Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The new Disney release, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, is a fun (and extremely long) movie. Not as engaging as the first POTC, it is still, nevertheless, a great swashbuckle of a film.
Johnny Depp is yet again fantastic as Jack-er, I mean Captain Jack Sparrow, whose entrance in the film (a la the Count of Montecristo) is as ridiculous as it is grand. Orlando Bloom does well playing the noble (if two-dimensional) good-doer, Will Turner. And, Keira Knightley is pleasant to watch as the half-heroine/half-damsel-in-distress Elizabeth Swann (when she isn't all bustier-ed up, she's dressed in drag as a pirate). The settings are gorgeous: tall ships beached on seemingly deserted isles, colonial-era ruins amid jungled overgrowth, battle scenes at sea. The computer generated effects are top-notch too ... and even better than in the first POTC: you'd never know that was Bill Nighy playing Davy Jones, and his ghastly crew of sea-creaturish tortured souls look so incredibly alive (well, except for that goofy hammerhead shark dude) that it's almost unfathomable to think how long it must have taken behind the scenes to perfect them.
My only complaint is that the film jumps from one over-the-top adventure to the next and stuffs its two and a half hours with practically any-and-everything associated with pirate legend. Of course, such an endeavor sounds like the making of a very great epic, but it's not. For me, the film never allows viewers (read: me) enough time to settle into what happens on the screen ... which is usually stunning as hell with lots of details (something often lacking in the plot). Even the shortest of attention spans would feel neglected, while the best of short term memories may struggle to keep up with all the plots twists and sub-plots twists.
One criticism I've come across in the press pertains to the island natives portrayed in the film. Personally, I was bothered by it. I mean, most things in the film (pirates, the British Navy, gender roles, etc) are portrayed inaccurately with tongues placed firmly in cheeks. As a rule of thumb, if you were offended by the portrayal of the Skull Island natives in Peter Jackson's King Kong, you might want to steer clear of this one. Furthermore, I'm not sure it's for the little ones either. Parts of the film can be ghoulish and a few 'BOO!' scenes may startle small children. Again, as a rule of thumb, if the spooky Skull Island natives of King Kong were too much for your kids, you may want to skip this one.
However, money talks and, as reported by the Guardian (click here), the movie is a box-office smash. I'm glad I saw it and would have to say it was well worth the price paid for a movie ticket these days.
Argh!
Johnny Depp is yet again fantastic as Jack-er, I mean Captain Jack Sparrow, whose entrance in the film (a la the Count of Montecristo) is as ridiculous as it is grand. Orlando Bloom does well playing the noble (if two-dimensional) good-doer, Will Turner. And, Keira Knightley is pleasant to watch as the half-heroine/half-damsel-in-distress Elizabeth Swann (when she isn't all bustier-ed up, she's dressed in drag as a pirate). The settings are gorgeous: tall ships beached on seemingly deserted isles, colonial-era ruins amid jungled overgrowth, battle scenes at sea. The computer generated effects are top-notch too ... and even better than in the first POTC: you'd never know that was Bill Nighy playing Davy Jones, and his ghastly crew of sea-creaturish tortured souls look so incredibly alive (well, except for that goofy hammerhead shark dude) that it's almost unfathomable to think how long it must have taken behind the scenes to perfect them.
My only complaint is that the film jumps from one over-the-top adventure to the next and stuffs its two and a half hours with practically any-and-everything associated with pirate legend. Of course, such an endeavor sounds like the making of a very great epic, but it's not. For me, the film never allows viewers (read: me) enough time to settle into what happens on the screen ... which is usually stunning as hell with lots of details (something often lacking in the plot). Even the shortest of attention spans would feel neglected, while the best of short term memories may struggle to keep up with all the plots twists and sub-plots twists.
One criticism I've come across in the press pertains to the island natives portrayed in the film. Personally, I was bothered by it. I mean, most things in the film (pirates, the British Navy, gender roles, etc) are portrayed inaccurately with tongues placed firmly in cheeks. As a rule of thumb, if you were offended by the portrayal of the Skull Island natives in Peter Jackson's King Kong, you might want to steer clear of this one. Furthermore, I'm not sure it's for the little ones either. Parts of the film can be ghoulish and a few 'BOO!' scenes may startle small children. Again, as a rule of thumb, if the spooky Skull Island natives of King Kong were too much for your kids, you may want to skip this one.
However, money talks and, as reported by the Guardian (click here), the movie is a box-office smash. I'm glad I saw it and would have to say it was well worth the price paid for a movie ticket these days.
Argh!
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