
Pirates of the Caribbean 2006 Posted by CK-Auctions
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Posted by CK-Auctions
When Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) learns his blood debt to the infamous pirate of the ocean Davy Jones (a wonderful Bill Nighy, somewhere under heavy CGI) is being called in, he looks to duck his promise and find a way to break the oath. Also trying to track Jack down is his old partner Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who must locate Jack's magical compass to help free his bride-to-be, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), from prison. As Jones and his evil aquatic minion hunt the waters searching for their prize, Will finds his father Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) is in dire straights; Elizabeth meets her pirate destiny; James Norrington (Jack Davenport) thirsts for revenge; and Jack quests for a special chest that contains his only chance for freedom.
The success of 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" was found in its gonzo Saturday matinee appeal. Determined to keep itself as frothy as possible and as thrilling as summer entertainment allows, "Black Pearl" was an enormous, and unexpected, sensation at the box office. More importantly, it made audiences slap-happy again with the idea of seeing pirates onscreen.
"Dead Man's Chest" is the hotly anticipated second installment (a third, "World's End," is due next May), and it gives the audience what it wants, but this time the attitude feels deflated, and the end product lacks a good sense of rum-drunk playfulness.
"Black Pearl" had a stealth appeal to it that was irresistible: audiences weren't expecting quality from a movie based on a theme park ride, they didn't believe a pirate movie could be so richly pleasurable, and nobody had seen Johnny Depp take such a mainstream acting risk before. That sparkling element of surprise helped the film hurdle some serious comedy problems and third act pacing issues. "Chest" launches itself under intense expectations, and you can sense the production is now wary of taking on any new gambles with this enormously budgeted sequel.
Director Gore Verbinsky is more than happy to dish out additional Jack Sparrow escapades, and for the most part, this is a slick motion picture. Using his bottomless buckets of money to dream up sophisticated action set pieces for his characters to tumble around in, "Chest" is spectacular when the adventure goes huge. For instance, not only do Jack, Will, and Norrington finally have their much-anticipated battle of wits and steel, they just happen to be clashing on top of a gigantic rolling water wheel, scrambling to keep their balance as they truck down a jungle mountainside. Also great fun is the Kraken: Davy Jones's monster squid-like "pet" that inhales entire ships in one gulp on command. Verbinski devotes nearly 30 minutes to fighting this beast, but it's worth the excessive screen time; it's an astounding sea creature special effect and the film's one viable threat (out of far too many) to our heroes.
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Posted by CK-Auctions
Review ID: 10000000002916712

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