Hello Beastie.

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2006)

I have heard this movie likened to "Empire Strikes Back", and while the star wars fan in me wants to protest, I can't. That's a really craking good description of it. I think that, assuming the third film is as good as this one was, Pirates of the Caribbean may become the Star Wars of our generation, since the Star Wars of our generation was ultimately disappointing.
The film begins beautifully. Very beautifully, actually. A number of shots of Will and Elizabeth's ruined rainined on wedding, with Kiera Knightly (the appeal of whom I will never understand) looking genuinely tragic kneeling in her dress in the rain. Turns out the proverbial sh*t has hit the fan and she and Will (and a conspicuosly absent Norrington) are under arrest for helping everyone's favorite flamboyant, Captain Jack. Meanwhile, back at the Turkish prison, Johnny Depp makes one of the better entrances in sequel history, which I won't ruin for those who haven't seen the film. The tone for the movie is set with these two scenes, the ruined promise of a fairy tale wedding and the Gothic hopelessness (with a hint of mythic whimsey) of the prison with it's floating coffins. This movie is not the same as it's predecessor, in that it is much darker, and that makes all the difference.
The plot, to be fair, is a bit contrived and many bits of the film are borrowed (read: stolen) from a myriad of sources, including itself, but that doesn't make the film any less fun. This swash buckles, no ifs ands or buts. The sword fights are great (can you say three way sword fight on a rolling water wheel? now you can!) the ship battles are decent (if a bit too reminiscent of the last movie) and I have one word for ya: Kraken. Kicks butt, it does. Very cool.
Davy Jones and his carbunkled crew are awesome, and Bill Nighy does a wonderful job of acting with a cepholopod for a head. The character shows hints of being complex underneat the "villain of the week" exterior, and I like the idea of sailors pledging their souls to him to delay the inevitable. It's almost (almost) deep for a summer movie. And the "Will, I am your father" angst that occurred on the boat was a nice touch. Too bad Orlando Bloom squandered it by being a pretty poor actor.
As for actors, I was very excited to see Norrington back in this one, and let me say, he is very likable as a ruined man. Likable in a love to want to love him but still kinda hate him way. Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom are opposite sides of the same cavernous cheekboned coin. Orlando spends too much time trying to be pretty and subtle and comes off as bland. Kiera (who improves a bit as the film goes on, but still) spends too much time trying to be pretty and fiesty and comes off as over done. Johnny Depp, of course, is fantastic. It's really his movie and he makes the most of it. He's probably the best actor in Hollywood right now. He makes strange decisions for some of his movies (libertine, anyone?) but he's amazing.
A note: this isn't a comedy. Not inasmuch as the last movie was. It has hysterically funny moments, don't' get me wrong. But this is a dark little adventure story. The ending makes that clear. Who'd have thought that Machiavelli's prince was lurking beneath Elizabeth's cookie cutter fiesty rich girl persona? Nicely done.
Finally, I've heard complaints about this being too much a set up for the next movie. Second act, folks, it's to be expected. My one concern (SPOILER LIKE YOU CANT BELIEVE) is that with Sparrow somewhat eaten by the kraken and the point being to go find him, I worry too much of the movie will be absent Johnny Depp. And while Geoffery Rush may be able to carry the film a bit, Bloom and Knightly most definitely can't.