Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

I knew two things going in to see The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: That Johnny Depp would give another great performance as captain Jack Sparrow and that this would be a trademark movie sequel, packed with more stunts and special effects than the original. I was right about both. Depp is the meal ticket to this (soon to be) trilogy. He took what could have been a stereotypical pirate roll and made it into one for the ages. As for the visual effects, I’m no fan, but the film does a good balancing act of trading between live-action stunts and computer animated effects. The result is a very thrilling, but let’s face it, stereotypical sequel/B-movie (With an A performance from its star).

The story continues on what is suppose to be the wedding day for Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), but the two are apprehended by the new Brit-villain Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) for helping Jack Sparrow escape from the clutches of the old Brit-villain Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport who also returns for this film) in the first installment. So Turner strikes a deal to find Jack Sparrow and steal his compass for Beckett, who wants it for unknown reasons. Turner sets out and meets up with Sparrow (after a few thrills of course) and is actually double-crossed by Jack and tricked into servitude aboard the ship Captained by Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), whom Jack owes a debt too and can’t repay it without his compass. Meanwhile, Swann escapes from jail and boards a ship to search for her love and Sparrow (Or is her love Sparrow? I’ll get to that in a bit.)

As summer movies go, this plot is actually very complicated, with several sub-plots. Unfortunately the way the story is told isn’t always as clever (I’m reminded of the time when young Will Turner is having a talk with his father Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and the two need answers to the mystery of the dead man’s chest so a face just conveniently pops out of the wall to tell them the story.). On the other hand, the sub-plots to the film are somewhat intriguing, and also help to develop the characters a little better than most sequels/summer movies bother to. One of these plots is whether or not Sparrow is actually a decent man, or a pirate at heart; the results of which end in a bit of corniness. Another sub-plot, and a bit more confusing one, is whether or not Swann is actually in love with Sparrow. As interesting as these might be I can’t help but think that they’re just cheap parlor tricks created just to get us back in the theaters for the third movie (I’ll kill someone if Sparrow and Swann end up brother and sister ala Luke and Leah in Star Wars!).

All in all, the film was a thrill ride, and quiet funny as well. As much as I don’t want to admit it, watching the movie, I couldn’t help but think of the thrills I got from watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars as a kid, although this film is not in the same league as those two, unless we’re talking box-office. Pirates will make a ton of money and so will the third film. With all its thrills, laughs, twists and turns, and surprises though, this is nothing more than a B-movie. But a fun one at that.

Other Films from Gore Verbinski:
Mousehunt(1997), The Mexican(2001), The Ring(2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl(2003), The Weather Man(2005)