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by Willie Waffle
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Pirates
of the Caribbean:
Dead
Man's Chest
Jack Sparrow,
Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner are back for another adventure (and
nicely
augmented paychecks), but this film needs a bit more explanation and
stronger dialogue
to go along with the laughs and action.
However, don't let that statement scare
you. It's still better
than most movies out there, and stands among the best of this summer,
especially as it moves to a riotous, action packed last half hour (kind
of like
a date with me). If
you can make it to
the end, you’ll be rewarded with plot twists that will shock
you and change the Pirates
world forever!
Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest starts with
what is supposed to be Elizabeth
(Kiera Knightley) and Will's (Orlando Bloom) wedding day, but the
proceedings
are interrupted when Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) arrests the two for
helping
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) escape in the first movie.
Of course,
this is all a smokescreen to get what he really wants.
Beckett makes a deal with Will - bring back
Sparrow and get him to give over a mystical compass that points to what
the possessor
most wants, and Sparrow will get a good job, while the two love birds
can go free.
It’s hard to believe Beckett, but, finding Jack is going to
be even
harder.
Sparrow has set sail on a mysterious mission, but he has larger
problems as
well. The legendary pirate (not the Monkee) Davy Jones (Bill
Nighy) wants
to collect on an old debt owed to him by Sparrow, and has sent an
emissary to
warn our favorite pirate of grave misfortune he may encounter if he
does not
live up to his end of the bargain.
Who will catch
Jack first? Will Turner? Davy Jones? Michael
Nesmith?
As
you can tell
by the additional space necessary to describe the plot,
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest has a complicated story that
just doesn't need to be this complicated.
The audience shouldn’t have to be PhD
candidates in Piratology to enjoy the
movie and get the story! It
took me almost ¾ of the film to
understand everyone's motives, all of the dealing and double dealing
and the
additional twists caused by the appearance of other characters, who all
have
their own motives and schemes. Then,
you
realize not much of it matters because it’s all just a set up
to the story we
really need to know for the third film, Pirates of
the Caribbean:
World’s End (coming out next summer).
It's
as if
writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott have gone a bit overboard trying
to fill
up the screen with intrigue, and director Gore Verbinski decided to jam
it all
in instead of editing, slicing and dicing. It yields a movie
that feels like it is trying too hard to justify
its existence by creating story after story and subplot after subplot,
when the
basic plot is enough to pull our characters back together for a movie
we want
to see. That said,
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest becomes a fantastic movie towards the
end as we move to an
action packed, funny, death defying climax with a shocking twist that
will have
you demanding to see the third Pirates
movie as soon as possible.
Depp is at the top of his game as he saves a weak script with
outrageous antics
(kind of like he used to on 21 Jump Street). More than in the first
movie, he focuses on physical comedy with his
pirate preening, hilarious running in chase scenes and funny facial
reactions
that make you think he is starring in a classic silent film with
Charlie
Chaplin. You have
to pay attention to
him in every scene to catch it all (not a large burden to put on the
ladies in
the audience), but it’s worth it as he delivers the best
performance of anyone
in the cast.
Knightley
gets a chance to show some depth in her exchanges between
Elizabeth and Sparrow, which lead to the movie’s biggest
scene (the one you
will be talking about all summer long), while Bloom (the one who sits
silently
as the other two compare Oscar nominations, and wonders why he
is dating Kate
Bosworth - a girl who looks like a 13-year old boy in a dress with less
personality and charm) gets to showcase some physical ability in a
swashbuckling swordfight late in the movie that serves as the best
action
sequence of the film. The
scene challenges
Verbinski to capture a constantly changing battlefield (for lack of a
better
term) without losing track of all of the participants.
It’s a madcap action sequence for the
ages!
Lucky
for us, Verbinski always finds a lighthearted moment or joke to keep
the
audience interested, which saves
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest from getting lost in
a sea of confusing plot twists and
average dialogue. Plus, you get a great
set up for the next Pirates
movie.
3
Waffles (Out Of 4)
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