Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest…
So, the long awaited sequel to Curse of the Black Pearl has finally arrived. Now, I should state that Taz was meant to do a mini review of the film, but since she’s too lazy to even get up this Sunday morning I’ll be doing it instead!
Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), master swordsman Will (Orlando Bloom), and the gorgeous Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) all return for another action packed adventurous romp.
The film focuses mainly on Captain Jack Sparrow, who from the previous film now owes a blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) who is a cross between a squid and a man as well as the ruler of the ocean depths and captains the ghostly ship, The Flying Dutchman which is unmatched in the waters in terms of speed. Oh and he also commands the terrifying Kraken…
The key to defeating Davy lies in Jack Sparrow capturing his heart, which is locked away, still beating, in the ‘Dead Man’s Chest’. Jack races against time to find it before the Kraken finds him! If he doesn’t find the chest in time, he’ll be cursed to an afterlife of eternal servitude and damnation in service of Jones. Someone else is also after the chest though as it is rumoured that whoever has it, can control Davy Jones himself…
This startling bit of news is enough to break off the wedding between Will Turner and Elizabeth who once again join Captain Jack Sparrow in a chaotic adventure that sees them encountering sea monsters, extremely hungry cannibals, the flamboyant soothsayer Tia Dalma and even Will’s long lost father, Bootstrap Bill himself.
Now I’ve got to say this. While Taz enjoyed the film from start to finish, my arse was killing me 2hrs into this 150minute flick. I felt the film dragged on for longer then it should have, and my worst fears were confirmed right at the end where we have to wait for the damn sequel of this film to arrive! For DMC I felt the film makers were trying to squeeze in too many characters, not only from CotBP but new characters in addition too which just gets the viewers slightly confused as there can be too much to process at once.
There are some amazing visuals in the film. Davy Jones’s character looks stunning. His head is essentially an squid/octopus whose tentacles wiggle and reach out hauntingly as he rages against all living beings. You have to see it to be honest, it’s hard to describe. The Kraken, his pet monster is equally impressive too. Nighy does a brilliant job of expressing an angry yet tormented character, a hard thing to do when most of your face is driven by special effects. Keira Knightly looks stunning as always with her looks that just suit this film to a tee. She can act poorly and still look perfect as it’s almost impossible to make her look bad on screen. Bloom looked quite lost in this and his performance wasn’t anything special. Johnny Depp excelled in every area as Jack Sparrow and it’s hard not to fall for such a bumbling swash buckler.
It is an enjoyable film, make no mistake there but I just felt it went on for too long, introduced too many characters and lastly gave us an ending, which left me with a sour taste in my mouth. This is a great film to take the family to see though and kids will no doubt love it - well Taz did anyway. What is it with women and bloody pirates I ask!?
Same time next year for the sequel Taz? You’re paying 