Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Why am I choosing to review the second Pirates movie? Well, I gave it a hard time during its initial release and haven't given much of a chance since. But something compelled me to watch it again and this time I dug the hell out of it.

First things first. This movie is a visual marvel. Its one of the most esthetically pleasing blockbusters I've seen in recent years. Even if you hate the movie itself you gotta love the eye candy alone. Davey Jones and his crew being the highlight. You can damn near taste the salt water and touch the algae on the Flying Dutchmen it's so flawlessly detailed. So on a visual standpoint the film is pretty much perfect.

On to the story. Well, its no as linear s the plot from the first film but it isn't the jumbled mess many haters make it out to be. There are many twists and turns and stabbings of the back but all you gotta due is pay attention to what the characters are saying and you shouldn't have a problem following whats going on.

Many also complain about the overload of supernatural happenings in the sequels. The first film, while having heavy supernatural elements still managed to keep things in the realm of reality. The supernatural stuff was more, modest, for the lack of a better word, in the first film. With Dead Man's Chest and At Worlds End the film makers go all out with all kinds of creatures, myths and legends and that's what I dig most about the sequels. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff and it worked like a charm in Dead Mans Chest. Davey Jones, The Flying Dutchmen, curses, voodoo, the Kraken...good shit.

I also feel the relationship with Will and Elizabeth felt more genuine in this film. They both have different motivations in the film and their choices are driving them apart. It works. Jack is more cartoonish in the sequels but I'll been damned if Depp doesn't make it work. He just makes this guy insanely watchable. You can't help but love him. One thing I find annoying is that they try way to hard to fit in every single character from the first film into the sequels and most of the them just feel like extra baggage and unneeded. Although every one does manage to play some sort of role in the outcome of the story by the third film. So at least the filmmakers had the wherewithal to something with all these characters they stuck in the movie.

One other thing I have a problem with is the humor. Some of it works, some of it doesnt. Mostly it doesn't work when they carry over the same jokes from the first film. It gets tiresome after a while.

A few quibbles aside, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest is a perfect summer blockbuster. Its big, gorgeously shot, has wonderfully entertaining characters and rousing action scenes to boot.

8/10