| PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Dead Man's Chest |
 2006 - USADirector: Gore Verbinski
- Reviewed by Vickie
What goes on, it seems, is a LOT of action and hit-and-miss comedy piled upon a rather flimsy storyline. It’s as though the studio execs who greenlit Dead Man’s Chest made a list of everything audiences loved about the first film—namely Johnny Depp mugging as perpetually buzzed pirate Jack Sparrow; Orlando Bloom acting all heroic as waifish swordsmith Will Turner; and Keira Knightley being plucky and cute as damsel-not-in-distress Elizabeth Swann—and then instructed the filmmakers to find some way to increase the amount of, respectively, mugging, heroism and cute pluckiness this time around. Oh, and throwing in endless chase sequences and battles would be nice, too, thanks. And that’s exactly what one gets. In Chest, our drunken anti-hero, Jack, discovers that he still owes a fairly sizable debt to slimy, octopussian (?) pirate Davy Jones (a woefully unrecognizable Bill Nighy)… who’s been cursed with tentacles for a beard and sentenced to scour the ocean floor aboard his ship of the undead, The Flying Dutchman. His “crew” are CGI creations that resemble a legion of Swamp Things, and Davy’s about ready for some fresh meat—not to mention, you know, being able to walk on land and stuff. It’s up to Jack to find the nefarious buccaneer 100 souls or sacrifice his own life to repay Davy. Meanwhile, Will and Elizabeth are facing a death sentence for their earlier escapades helping Jack escape the gallows, and their only hope for salvation is to track down their woozy ex-mate in order to gain possession of his magical compass… which, in turn, is capable of guiding anyone game enough to the titular chest… which, in turn, contains the still-beating heart of Davy Jones… which, in turn, if squashed (or stomped or blown up or otherwise rendered unbeating), will kill Davy instantly… which, in turn, would solve Jack’s problems, Will’s problems and Elizabeth’s problems and everyone could live happily ever after. At least until the third installment of the trilogy, that is. There’s nothing terribly wrong with this movie. It maintains the amusement-park atmosphere of the first film and will no doubt keep audiences entertained. But it’s also not completely satisfying and it feels a bit like everyone phoned it in since the built-in audience is already in place to ensure a massive opening-weekend box-office take. Depp reprises his charmingly swarthy alter-ego to great effect, and he’s easily the best thing about the movie. Bloom and Knightley have the comparably challenging tasks of competing with their more-colorful co-star and his far more interesting character, and neither one really succeeds. Blame it on the screenplay or the direction or the fact that it’s just hard to leap off the screen when you’re stuck in the straight-man roles while your co-star’s hamming it up left and right, but both Will and Elizabeth wound up appearing disposable and extraneous to the story. I have to wonder if their parts will shrink further by the time part three rolls around next year. Its other problem is its rather beefy running time. At nearly 150 minutes, Dead Man’s Chest is easily about 40 minutes too long and any number of the aforementioned chase or swordfight sequences could have been edited down or cut out completely without detracting from the film. In fact, a brisker pace and some fat-trimming might have upped its slice rating. ‘Cause as much as I enjoy Johnny, Orlando and Keira, I didn’t really love this movie as much as I thought I might. Arrrrgh. DVD NOTES - by JenniferThough I think I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest significantly more than Vickie, the Extra Features may explain what she found to be lacking... like the fact that much of this sequel was planned without a script. Oh dear. Despite the fact that a release date was set before the movie was written, great attention was paid to detail. The Collector's Edition DVD meticulously chronicles all of the behind-the-scenes action, and covers every step of production from the earliest meetings right up to the film's Disneyland premiere. You can spend hours learning about everything from costume design to special effects, with plenty of glimpses of Johnny Depp along the way. One of the most intriguing featurettes, "Dead Men Tell New Tales: Re-Imagineering the Attraction," shows the revamping of the original ride to include characters and props from the movies—check out Johnny next to his animatronic self! Bonus features also include audio commentary by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, bloopers, and much, much more. By the end, you'll feel like you deserve some sort of honorary degree in Pirates. |
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