Dakota

Last night, I went to see Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest with Willow, Dennis, Michael, Genevieve, and Danielle. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I coincidentally saw the first film with Willow when it first came out, and then again with Matt. I did enjoy the film, although not as much as everyone else that I knew, seemed to. It appears that I must follow suit again, because a lot of people seem to really hate the sequel, and I didn't find it that bad.

Actually, the only really parts I had a problem with were the references to the first film. It is a frequent tactic done by sequels, and a sign to me that the filmmakers are not secure with the storyline they're working with, after that first incarnation of the characters. So, yes, the rum jokes, the prostitutes slapping, the dog with the keys, the stupid fucking monkey--all included ad nauseum. However, they are only elements of a generally pretty good new storyline. For the first 20 minutes, it's a little concerning. But it catches up with itself.

This time around, it's not the skeletal-by-night pirates after Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, and instead a ship of sea monsters led by Davy Jones, who is a mutated octopus humanoid with an oversized crab claw hand. Billy Nighy (who will forever be Love, Actually's Billy Mack, in my mind) plays Jones competently, and fortunately a lot more likably than Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa from the first film.

Jones' pirates look a little silly... but well, they're sea creatures melded into human bodies; of course they do. The one genuinely disturbing character is Boot Straps Bill (Will Turner's father, as mentioned in the first film) who's covered in barnacles. He just looks gross.

Another new character is the Jamacian-to-the-stereotypical-max Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), who has dealings with Captain Jack Sparrow before. He tells Sparrow how he will be able to find the chest of Davy Jones', which houses Jones' beating heart. That part of the story is a little silly, but because this film is unabashedly a second film in a trilogy, what happens next may justify the whole thing. Tia Dalma herself speaks in a deep accent that overdoes it by miles, although she carries herself pretty well.

Orlando Bloom's Will Turner is still an annoyance, Jack Sparrow was a retread of Depp's previous performance where he just wasn't given enough to do, and Keira Knightly gave the best performance, I thought, of the film as Elizabeth. Kevin McNally (first mate Gibbs) was also a far more fleshed out character. Jack Davenport, as Elizabeth's ex-fiance Norrington, was more tolerable this round. As packed as the first film's cast was, it still always seemed like Johnny Depp's affair. This time around, it was much more an ensemble show.

I also felt that the fights were well choreographed, if a little muddled at times by the sheer size of them, most notably the one on Tortuga. Just too much going on.

Essentially, it wasn't a great movie, though. It was coherent enough, but it just didn't pack a strong punch as a stand-alone film. Even Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Back to the Future II, and The Matrix: Reloaded had endings that were mere set-up's for the next installment, though, so it's almost tradition.

That doesn't excuse it; because all of those other films were more satisfying in the long run. Two of the better 2-of-3 installments were X-Men 2 and Scream 2, which relied on elements of their first films, but didn't _require_ a third film to make them complete. I know others would say Terminator 2 was the same way, or The Godfather, but those are films I've never seen. I don't consider the Addams Family to be a trilogy despite there being 3 films with them as characters.

The set-up for Pirates 3 is a frustrating one. Just like Han Solo made his ultimate sacrifice and then gets brought back, for Jack Sparrow to go out like punk with a heart of gold, only be brought back is a little frustrating. Well, then what was the point of the sacrifice? At least we were left in Empire thinking Han was a hero of sorts and the movie just ends. Here, Sparrow was fooled into it, and less than 10 minutes after he's doomed forever, we're told he can be brought back. And with the help of a recently full-time human Barbossa, no less. Fuck. I hated Barbossa.

As awful as #3's were for Matrix and Revenge of the Sith (well, that whole series was hideous), Pirates left me with hope because while a solid C+ movie, it was still solid.