Jackass Critics

Pirates of the Caribbean –

Dead Man’s Chest

So, I feel a little dumb post a review for this movie now as, really, as much movie as this film has made in three weeks, it seems like the people that have wanted to see it, have seen it – twice. But, you know, it’s always nice to know what a jackassy movie nerd thinks, right? Not really, but this is what I do, and I can’t let the people down – ‘people’ being the girls that post in the Hangman’s Curse forums.

Picking up a few months after the end of the first film, Dead Man’s Chest quickly puts the players together again for another adventure. It seems that Pirate Jack, Miss Elizabeth, and Mr. Turner are all wanted (along with the former Commander Norrington) for acts of piracy, and so it is to Mr. Turner and Miss Swann that an agent for the East India Ink Company comes. But it isn’t them that the company wants. Not at all. What they want is Jack Sparrow, and more specifically his compass. Fearing that he and his betrothed will be killed, Will Turner agrees to find Jack and to retrieve the pirate’s prized compass in exchange for a full pardon for all involved. Things are not as easy as all that though as Jack won’t part with his compass unless Will helps him with a wee task – the finding of a certain strange key. Not knowing how difficult and dangerous this task will be, Will re-joins Jack’s crew and the two head off to find the key. The key goes to a box that holds the still-beating heart of Davy Jones, a monstrous demon of the deep that Sparrow has pledged his soul to. Upon the Flying Dutchmen, Jones’s ship, are lost souls that had been left to the sea and who, fearing death, have pledged themselves to make up the crew of the haunted ship. Though Jack and Will are able to procure the key to the chest that contains Jones’s heart, finding, keeping, and retaining that chest are entirely different things altogether, and when Commander Norrington resurfaces to join Jack’s crew and Elizabeth throws in with the group as well, things get very complicated and very dangerous. As the film reaches its climax the question is raised – how much is Jack willing to risk to retain his soul? Being a cliffhanger, things are left decidedly undecided, but rest assured friend, there is at least one surprise awaiting you at the end of this film, one that should leave for a very interesting finale.

Me, I loved the hell out of this movie.

There, I said it. I loved it.

What I love about this film is that it slips right into the vibe of the first film but ups the ante. Things are more dangerous, the story is bigger, and we learn more about who these people are and what they’re about. I love that some things we thought we knew are changed, and that some characters change. The direction is just as engaging and involving, the acting is just as fun, and the scope of the entire film is much bigger. What I loved more than anything were Davy Jones and his crew, which is some of the best creature effects work I have seen in probably a decade. I realize they are digital effects, and I wish they weren’t, but if filmmakers can utilize their effects as well as Gore Verbinski does, and can achieve what the actors here do, then hell, bring it on. Davy and his crew are scary, real characters and they add a strong element of Lovecraftian horror to the film that really had me giggling.

As for the ill, well, hell, it’s a cliffhanger so that’s always a drag. There is a lot to the film, and it gets convoluted as hell. Who is after whom, what is after which, and then you leave it all up in the air. Wha? For some, too, the addition of monsters and more elements of the macabre will turn them right off as it’s not as much of a hardcore pirate movie as the first one. But, really, seriously, people will always whine that the first of ANY series is better than the movies that come after it, so who really cares?

A rare case of a damned good movie making the money it deserves at the box office and I couldn’t be happier. If I had my druthers they’d end the series with the third film and let the series die a dignified death but we KNOW that won’t happen. Oh well, I am just hoping that the third is as good as the second and I can live with that. And remember, don’t be like me – stay until the credits are over. It’s worth it.

…c…