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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
By Vincent St. James
It's been a while since the last sea adventure
featuring the likes of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), his lovely fiance
Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), and the charismatic swashbuckling Captain
Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). This time, director Gore Verbinski has
given us more of the same, which is good, considering the original
Pirates of the Caribbean movie was such a blast.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
revolves around a mysterious key which leads to an equally
mysterious Chest. Several key players (essentially every important
main character in the movie) has reason for going after said key and
chest. Our main antagonist, at least on the surface, appears to be one
Davy Jones, who is ruler of the seas as long as the chest does not to
fall into certain hands. Most of the movie is about the adventures
that Jack, Will and Elizabeth have as they seek to save their necks by
capturing the chest and its contents.
The movie provides plenty of action/adventure,
and the visual effects really do seem to get better with every passing
blockbuster. This summer has had its share of impressive visuals, and
Pirates is not left behind. The adventure scenes in the
beginning do seem, however, a bit cookie-cutter and necessary only to
advance the plot, but the movie never lets down its high-charged pace
is able to regain that fun-flare that made the first movie so original
and enjoyable.
The plot does have it's moments which keep it
from being entirely predictable, and a lot of that stems from
interesting developments in the relationships between some of the main
characters. This adds another dimension that viewers can only enjoy to
see explored. Other than that, the screenplay is as witty as its
predecessor, if not as original in storyline and settings. However,
given the level of originality of the first Pirates movie,
that is to be forgiven. Of course, enough can't be said of the
performance of Johnny Depp, which is every bit as fantastic as that in
the first movie.
If there are ever flaws in the screenwriting or
direction, the producers know that they can always count on the
crowd-pleasing antics of Depp's eccentric Captain Jack. The joy he
portrays in the character translates to moviegoers and it should go
without saying that the entire "feel" of the movie rests squarely on
his shoulders. Thankfully, he doesn't have to do all of the heavy
lifting by himself as there are good all around performances around
him, most notably by Keira Knightley. Given her seemingly renewed
enthusiasm in playing the role, we can only feel happy that the
writers gave her role as much screen time as they did and feel equally
thankful that she delivers. Knightley brings a certain high-quality
"classy sexiness" to her role that makes it hard to imagine anyone
else playing it. Bloom is fine as Turner, but nothing special.
Hats off to the crew in general. The movie is a
worthy successor, and though I'm not a fan of cliff-hanger endings
leading up to third installments, this one offers enough kinks to keep
us guessing (and looking forward to) where the story takes us next.
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