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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
Movie Reviews List | |
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PIRATES OF
THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST Rated PG-13 Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgård, Bill Nighy, Jack Davenport, Tom Hollander Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes The second in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN trilogy, DEAD MAN'S CHEST opens on the wedding day of Elizabeth Swan (Knightly) and Will Turner (Bloom) as members of the British army arrive to arrest the pair on charges of treason for helping Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) escape. Lord Beckett (Hollander) makes a deal with Will that he will pardon both if Will retrieves Jack's ever present compass and returns it to Beckett. Will embarks on the mission, and finds himself in the middle of a feud with Davy Jones' (Nighy) crew and Sparrow. While the film is getting decidedly mixed reviews from critics, I really enjoyed this film. The images and locations are breathtaking and sharp - lending an authenticity to the film. The script is witty and we get to see more depth out of the characters we have come to love. What I liked about this film is the use of many familiar Disney scenes woven into the script. Many of the little touches that we love about the PIRATES ride show up in this film (the dog holding the jail keys, the man spitting water out of his mouth as he comes up out of the well, the pirates chasing the girl around in Tortuga). There are also touches of the Jungle Cruise as well, which is fun to see and draws audience members further into the story. The swordplay is top notch. There is a scene with a three-way fight between Sparrow, Turner and Norrington which climaxes in a fight on a huge rolling mill wheel that is truly brilliant. I think director Verbinski did a good job of mixing in the humour and the action to achieve a nice balance. The thing I most liked about this film in contrast to the first one was the exploration of the main characters. This film is darker than the first and each character's story shows that no one is truly good or evil - no situation is black or white. Will and Elizabeth are both given more to do in this film and finally hint at being three dimensional characters and are more than "window dressing" as they were in the first film. Captain Jack also becomes more than just a caricature and we see his true good nature hiding under the pirate persona. Even the "bad guy" character of Davy Jones (brilliantly played by Bill Nighy) is shown to have been driving to evil because of a broken heart. The one downside of the film is that there is a huge amount of history in the plot. There are a lot of sub-plots which, while interesting and necessary to the story, do get a bit confusing and long winded at times. I think this is part of why the film is getting mixed reviews. Any second film in the trilogy has a hard time living up to expectations (look at LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS) as it has to go from established characters in the first film to setting up the plot for the finale. The film is long and there isn't as much action as PIRATES 1, but I think it was a better film in terms of development of plot and character. The special effects are really good in DEAD MAN'S CHEST. I particularly enjoyed DAVY JONES' crew who are all barnacled and disintegrated as a result of being at the bottom of the sea for many years. While not a fantastic film, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST is a fun ride. And if the huge lines and sold out shows are anything to go by, it should be one of the biggest hits of the summer. 4 out of 5 |
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