Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Production: Disney
Rating: PG-13
Why I saw this: Daniel and I liked the original, and the trailers looked cool.
Short summary: Captain Jack Sparrow, William Turner, and Elizabeth Swan join together again in search of Davy Jones’ heart, before he kills them.
Website: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/
More double crosses, more intrigue, more action, and more comedy awaits in this sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl. It is not completely necessary for the viewer to have seen the original Pirates of the Caribbean, but there are a lot of jokes and references made to the first one, so I highly recommend seeing the original first.
This movie picks up pretty much where the original left off. Will and Elizabeth are arrested and sentenced to death because they aided in the escape of Captain Jack Sparrow. Because Commander Norrington gave Jack a day’s head start, he has been dismissed from the service. While this certainly isn’t good for the heroes, I liked that justice was dealt for actions in the previous movie, even if that justice was dealt out by the crooked head of the East India Company who had his own reasons for arresting Will and Elizabeth.
There is LOTS of action in this movie, the coolest being the sword fights. The Kraken adds a lot of suspense when it goes on the hunt, because it is nigh unstoppable. Combined with all the twists, and double crosses, it was interesting to the very end.
The CG effects were pretty well done for Davy Jones and his crew. It felt a bit fake on some of the shots of the Kraken, but overall, it was well done.
As far as characterization goes, Will and Elizabeth remain mostly unchanged from their brave, cunning selves that we left in the previous movie. Although Elizabeth’s action at the end is quite shocking. The character we learn the most about is Jack, as he’s pushed into a corner, with his life on the line.
There were two things that annoyed me a bit about this movie. First of all, this movie plays true to the cliche that a person’s not dead unless you see him buried, and even then, you have to wonder. This is brought up right at the beginning when we see the supposedly dead Bootstrap Bill Turner on Davy Jones’ crew, and others follow.
The second thing is that I didn’t realize that this movie is the first part of two. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will be released next year, and will have the conclusion to this movie. Correspondingly, this one ends with a cliff hanger.
There is quite a bit of violence in this movie, with lots of deaths (though not visually gruesome). There are also a few crude remarks, mostly directed at Elizabeth by Jack.
Overall, I give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
