Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest / USA / 2006

Whereas the original film radiated a delightfully effervescent quality throughout (which I can still appreciate today), the first hour of the sequel is a tedious chore to endure. Honestly, I didn’t think Dead Man’s Chest captured any of the same comical vigor or gleeful delirium that the first film exuded until the 3-way swordfight started up, and yet it still never matched it’s predecessor’s sense of infantile wit and immature exuberance.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Buena Vista Pictures 35mm Print
20 Jul 2006 4:56 PM | Comments (2)

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1. Ladd / 20 July 2006 / 2:42 PM

   But…but…I was entertained…

   Sure, I loved Pirates #1. The mere suggestion that a movie based on a theme park ride is absurd, let alone a Disney attraction. But somehow through the right talent, a notoriously commercial exec producer, and a solid director in Verbinski, they somehow pulled it off. Pirates #2 runs 2+ hours, and features a new plot twist about ever 10 minutes. Yes, it lacks the joy of the first, but it’s what Pirates #2 does differently that makes it unique, and the best summer movie of 2006. Pirates #2 perhaps stumbles on itself assuming its audience remembers the exact details of these characters and their significance to each other from the first film, but for those who do, we find Capt. Jack, Will, and Elizabeth embroiled in a tangle of injustice, Jack forced to face his evitable destiny with time and contractual obligation with the awesome Davy Jones, quite possibly the most memorable movie villian in years, performed with nuance by Bill Nighy. The effects are stunning, be it with Jones and his crew or with the Kraken. The plot worms itself every which way, and that alone warrants a second viewing. We’re through with the exposition, now we find Pirates in the trenches of No-Man’s Land. I’ll skip the pirate cliche I would have inserted here, and instead say that Pirates #2 was the film I was waiting for this summer, past the unremarkable drivel of X3 and Superman Returns. It was everything I thought a summer flick should be. It made me want to think, pay attention, and rewarded me with some …. swashbuckling high action. Dammit, and I thought I could get away without throwing out a pirate allusion…

2. leo / 8 September 2006 / 9:08 AM / URL

   I haven’t seen this yet, but I note with joy that this film will have earned $1 billion worldwide by the day’s end. These profits will no doubt go straight to scurvy research and to the cause of fighting hunger on the high seas. Yarr!