Jack Sparrow searches for the heart of Davy Jones to
avoid having his soul enslaved to Jones' service. ACTION/FANTASY
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Pirates of the Caribbean:
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After a hugely successful first film, not one, but two sequels were quickly announced. Luckily, building on the story of the previous film and bringing back several key characters, Dead Man's Chest is a largely entertaining film. While it does make the story just a tad too convoluted for its own good and the runtime started to become excessive, this is still the best sequel of the bunch.
Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow. He is just as fun to watch, showing everyone why he's the perfect choice for the famous pirate. The only issue I have with his portrayal this time around is that the character seems a little bit less bright. While Jack Sparrow was prone to some of the first film's more funny moments, he was still someone to watch out for. I feel like this sequel started the trend of dumbing the character down with each installment. Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom continue to do good as two lovers willing to do anything for each other. As for the new characters, Stellan Skarsgard plays the often mentioned, 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner. He does a great job with the role and I do wish he had more screen time. Bill Nighy plays the infamous Davy Jones, the villain for the next two installments. He does an excellent job, making his character both intimidating and creepy. Speaking of which, there's a reason this film won best visual effects at the Oscars. Davy Jones and his crew look amazing. The CGI to make them look as gross as they do is truly impressive. While I do enjoy this film quite a bit, I also feel it started a trend that the third film used in excess. First, this where the story starts getting a little too convoluted. It's easy enough to follow, but you gotta pay attention as to not miss anything. Second, the runtime started to become a little extreme. While it's only a bit longer than the first one, it could still be argued that some footage could have been trimmed down. Regardless of some of the mentioned negatives, Dead Man's Chest is still an extremely fun time. Johnny Depp still has amazing control over his character, Davy Jones is a great villain, and there is still plenty of swashbuckling action. Disney definitely has proven they know what they're doing with this franchise. |