When Gary, my college roommate and I, went to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, we were somewhat skeptical. Hell, I was really skeptical. Disney + Jerry Bruckheimer usually = crap. Also, the movie’s title is from a 30 year old ride and Disney World. But what a delightful surprise that first one was, thanks to Johnny Depp. So I went to go see POC: Dead Man’s Chest with a bit more enthusiasm.
Well, that was wasted. Ok, I admit that my first mistake was seeing it on opening weekend … without preordering tickets … and at a movie theatre that is attached to a mall that is rampant with teenagers. Conclusion: I got a really crappy seat. Somewhere along the lines of second row, two seats from the far right side.
That being aside, the plot was so very meh. Probably because (like Lord of the Rings) the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed at the same time. This sort of filmmaking always leaves the second part of a three part saga disappointing because of the cliffhanger (think Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back). Anyway, long story short, this movie had a shaky plot because a lot of the story remained unsaid. For instance, Davy Jones, the embodiment of the sea, decided to keep his most vital organ on the LAND he can’t step foot on save once a decade is beyond me. Why he would even let it out of his sight is a bit confusing as well.
Other gripes include: not enough screen time for Captain Jack, barely any character development for Will Turner (well, I suppose he had to deal with his dad suddenly showing up), lots of unnecessary footage (why put a dress floating in water on screen for so long), overdone computer graphics (look, we can make a guy look like a crusty barnacle or a hammerhead shark OR a ship’s hull), and no ending. Elizabeth was also all over the place with her love for Captain Jack and Will Turner (go figure – girl has to choose between shiny Good Guy (think Cyclops) and Hunky Bad Boy (think Wolverine).
At least Johnny Depp was still at his best, with even more sauntering and slurred speech.
Perhaps the final installment of this series will tie all the loose ends together. This movie ended with ::gasp:: the return of a Curse of the Black Pearl character and the possibility of finding dear Captain Jack, so I suppose I have something to look forward to.
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