7/8/2006 2:05 AM
posted awhile ago
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - THOUGHTS UPON VIEWING (A FEW QUASI-SPOILERS)
Ah...Captain Jack is back! And man am I glad. With all of the movies I've seen lately, as you can clearly see, this follow up to the wildly successful first Pirates of the Caribbean movie is easily the best movie I've seen all summer so far (and yes, that includes May and the DaVinci Code). My two husbands are back in fine form. Johnny Depp is great as ever as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann are also just as good as the first time.
Sure, the movie follows the sequel formula in recycling some of the successful gags from the first movie as well as making cheeky references. The rum being gone is a running gag, for example, and those two pirates under Barbossa, including the guy with the wooden fake eye, are back to ham it up some. Also true to the sequel formula: more is better. There is more piracy and swashbuckling and swagger (from Jack) and explosions and creepy supernatural seafaring hocus pocus.
You've read the plot summary. Davy Jones is out for Jack, and you get to find out why and a little bit more about Jack and his past. I won't say too much. There are also several curious flirtations going on (and not just of the romantic nature) as well as a reunion with a lost loved one for Will, a kind of fantasy in and of itself in the way it plays out.
I will say this: this is one of those few sequels that actually have a good follow-up story, with lots to keep you interested. Also, this one will leave you hanging and salivating for the third movie, for which I cannot wait a whole other year.
As always, anyone else see the movie and like to comment?
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