SummaryJohnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reunite this epic tale chronicling the further mis-adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow. (Buena Vista Pictures)
SummaryJohnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reunite this epic tale chronicling the further mis-adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow. (Buena Vista Pictures)
Even more of a party-hearty-Marty potlatch of silliness than its predecessor. The franchise having been established, Verbinski, Bruckheimer, and Co. have been liberated to indulge in absurdities, pile on the so-old-they're-new-again clichés, and make jokes at their own expense.
A long, tedious and convoluted follow-up to 2003's rollicking high-seas hit, The Curse of the Black Pearl, this second installment in the promised trilogy lacks the swash and buckle of the original. And then some.
More than the usual bad or even numbingly horrible movie. It's an amalgam of many of the modern cinema's worst tendencies and modern filmmaking's most unfortunate misconceptions.
A usual situation in movie business. The prequel made a lot of money so a sequel must be made even if the story had a satisfying ending. Here they succeed as it has good ideas, expands the lore and uses the characters / strengths of the original movie. The story starts with a bang as William Turner and Elisabeth Swan are arrested on their wedding by Lord Cuttler Beckett for helping Jack Sparrow in the previous movie. He promises to spare them if Will gets Jacks compass. Meanwhile Captain Jack Sparrow has other troubles. He made a Faustian pact with Davy Jones the Captain of the flying Dutchman and the payback time is close. He desperately needs a way to get out of the deal. Jack is also hunted with fury by James Norrigton who lost everything since the prequel and blames Jack for this. This sets up the story. I was surprised for this creative approach. The story works well as all characters have their own goals or agendas that align or collided if not both with the others. It has everything that is needed like good action, great twists, humor and immersion. They use the characters we love and are invested in from the previous movie and added new ones that also work well. Lets start with the trinity: Captain Jack Sparrow by Johnny Depp is back in his signature role. He fully delivers the quirks, awesomeness and ambiguity. William Turner by Orlando Bloom is on a tour de force to safe Elisabeth and fully delivers the full range of his struggles. Elisabeth Swan refuse to be a damsel in distress and sets up her own journey to safe the day. For the bad guys we have Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett who is a phenomenal villain. You will love to hate him with passion from the beginning. He is a cunning and scheming magnificent bastard. Davy Jones is a feared menace of the ocean you don't want to anger or even meet. You cant hide or escape his wrath on sea. There is of cause more to him. James Norrigton is cut between his thirst for revenge and actually being / wanting to be a good guy. Then there are the side characters I want to praise too: Kevin R Mc Nally as Gibbs, Jonathan Price as Gouvernour, Stellan Skarsgard, Naomie Harris as Tima Dalma and one certain character who I cant spoil who appears shortly before the end of the movie. Again we got a great cast that works well together and the chemistry in this movie is excellent. They also have great special effects and sets. Everything looks truly believable like for example the ships, weapons, costumes and locations. There were no missteps that took me out of the immersion and it enhances the experience. Then we have the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer who is a legend in the industry. His name alone should be prove **** performance. There are some negatives I should mention. For some this movie is a misstep and fails to deliver. Their arguments which I don't share are: It is far to long, has an overly complicated story or is overburdened (Those have not seen At Worlds End) and being less original. To be fair I will say the conclusion of the trilogy in At Worlds End is overburdened and has to many story arcs fit into but this cant be blamed on this movie. Be warned that this has a cliffhanger ending and is darker at some parts. Overall a solid and enjoyable sequel. It is not as refreshing as the original but still good enough to give a 10/10. Sadly the next movies in the franchise will get worse.
I liked the action, and Johnny Depp's acting was incredible as per usual. I didn't like how many magic plot devices there were that never got explained. Davy Jones also isn't nearly as good of a villain as Barbosa from the first movie.
Dead Man's Chest has some terrific action setpieces, but squanders any narrative potential this trilogy had at being the next big thing on cheap jokes and ridiculous antics.
You know it's a bad sequel when you can't even remember the plot after watching it the night before. Nowhere near as good as the first Pirates. I think the only good to come out of this sequel is a funny meme when Jack is running away from a crowd of cannibals. Some great cinematography, Jack moments and beautiful Calypso but that's it. Too many characters, long movie and annoying acting from Orlando and Keira. Not as bad as Pirates 3 however. I guess if you're a fan get the whole lot but as a purest.. I'll stick with the first movie.
There is no resolution to the story that is setup throughout the start of the movie. I would rate it higher if there was some sense of closure, but I can't stomach the third movie, it's terrible.