With the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie being such a success for Disney, there was only one logical conclusion, make an entire big-budget franchise out of the dang thing. Many fans are split on how they see the sequels that came after The Curse of the Black Pearl. In terms of the second movie titled Dead Man’s Chest, that movie seemed to win over die-hard fans, but was overall mixed with critics and audiences of the time of it’s realease. For me, there are more good things about this pirates adventure than there are bad. Still, that doesn’t mean I think every single thing about this movie is 100% flawless.
Taking place after the events of The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is on a quest to retrieve the heart of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), Captain of the Flying Dutchman ship. Through a series of events both Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) get roped into to adventure after hunting down Jack for complicated purposes. Now there is no turning back for our heroes and things only become more interesting as will discovers the truth about what really happened to his long lost father, Bootstrap Bill.
This film had a good deal of expectations to live up to and while it doesn’t hit all of them, there are still plenty of things to enjoy in the adventure that follows. The tone, comedy, and overall size and scope are still present in this movie. I give credit to the filmmakers for giving us a new story while presenting us with the things we remember from the last movie including sword-fighting action and wacky shenanigans. The only thing that keeps this movie from being in the same ranks as The Curse of the Black Pearl is the endless amount of exposition that is made to set up future characters and storylines in other movies. It’s obvious that the pirate’s franchise wants to be in the same ranks as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, but they really should have focused all their attention on trying to tell a good action-adventure story in the first place.
Johnny Depp is still just as funny and enjoyable as he was before and new characters like Davy Jones are utilized greatly in the story. The old characters such as Willam and Elizabeth are admittedly not needed but they are not unnecessary. Much like the story though, the characters talk almost like exposition machines instead of talking about the adventure they are currently on because obviously, they are trying to set up subplots for the sequel that follows. The characters though give just enough of a charismatic performance to avoid being drawn-out or boring but it would have helped if they had the same amount of dedication and likability that they had in the previous film.
The visuals still give that pirate-like adventure spirit and there are some pretty creative set pieces and character designs that help elevate the experience. The design for davy jones for example is one of the best CGI characters I’ve seen in a while. Sometimes the effects can indeed look a little fake from time to time, but the way Jones’s octopus-like feel is executed makes him quite an intriguing character from a visual standpoint. Even Davy Jone’s crew and ship are visually interesting making it one of the more unique pirate ships I’ve ever seen. The real star of the show like last time is the action-packed stunts from sword fighting and some very impressive set pieces for the characters to work off of. It is more violent than your usual live-action Disney fare but not gruesome enough to make it any more than an R-rating.
The music score is once again helmed by Hanz Zimmer who goes a bit more experimental with the music by including pipe organ and music box sounds. This helps make the score stand out from The Curse of the Black Pearl and is more than a welcoming edition to the epic compositions of the pirate’s franchise.
There are pros and cons to this action-packed but also flawed sequel to The Curse of the Balck Pearl. There are great special effects, well thought out action set pieces and wonderful musical compositions that more than make for some of the overused character building moments and somewhat lacking storytelling. Still, it’s amazing that we’ve got a decent movie out of the whole thing anyway. Dead Man’s Chest won’t win any awards for the best live action Disney movie, but it’s still worth sailing along for the ride even if that said ride may not quite be as epic and fun as before.
(Final Grade: B-)