Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

by Ari

Pirates of the Caribbean:  Dead Man’s Chest continues the adventures of Johnny Depp’s now infamous Captain Jack Sparrow as he faces off against cannibalistic natives, mutated pirates, the legendary Davy Jones, and the enormous mythological sea-dwelling monster, The Kraken.  This film has just about everything a big-budget Hollywood spectacle could possibly cram in two hours and thirty minutes, including a cliff-hanger ending that deliciously sets up yet another ridiculously over-the-top fantasy adventure.  This is escapist entertainment that just happens to be immensely enjoyable.....once you get past the immensely unsatisfying first hour.

Pirates II joins the quickly growing list of light-hearted spectacle that throws away the notion of well structured and paced storytelling in favor of needlessly lengthy and tedious plotting.  Why the sequel to the mediocre, far too long original Pirates of the Caribbean takes so much damn time to establish its plot and characters and central conflict (not to mention introduce its villain) is beyond reason. While director Gore Verbinski thankfully avoids empty dramatic indulgences, he and his writers spend a considerable amount of time with a dreadful first half that does nothing but irritate.

Perhaps that has to do with how much you enjoy Depp’s whimsical tendencies as Captain Sparrow.  His flamboyance made the first movie passable, but something more is required to sustain interest in a character.  For the first hour of Dead Man’s Chest, he does more of the same -  exhausting the humor and doing nothing as a character.  That also goes for Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, as well as any other returning character from the original.  Why is it that many of these adventure movies extend generic stories into tiring, overly long investments?  If Romancing the Stone or Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad were made today, they would all be thirty minutes to an hour longer.  What happened to the lean adventure epic?  The kind with a fulfilling amount of spectacle in an appropriate amount of time. Perhaps it was The Lord of the Rings? Filmmakers and executives should realize three hours per film was necessary in order to adapt Tolkien’s gargantuan trilogy.No film entitled Pirates of the Caribbean should go a second past the 100 minute mark.

The film opens with Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company (Tom Hollander) disrupting the wedding of Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley), arresting them under the charges of aiding Captain Sparrow.  In exchange for their freedom, Beckett persuades Turner to find the world famous pirate and retrieve his mysterious compass which can lead the company to a prize of incalculable fortune.  So, Will sets off to find Captain Jack and does so on an island inhabited by ritualistic natives that worship the prancing pirate as a god, but plan to consume him as tradition.   Meanwhile, Elizabeth escapes from prison and has her own adventure in search of her soon to be husband.Sparrow himself is looking to settle a debt with Davy Jones, the ruler of the sea and master of the Kraken, to avoid slavery aboard Jones’ haunted ship, The Flying Dutchman.  There are several different story-lines vying for position in Pirates II, and none of them are remotely interesting until they all mesh into one, common quest:  Find the Dead Man’s Chest which contains the heart of Davy Jones (see movie for ridiculous exposition), and rid the world of a monstrous force.

Once Davy (Bill Nighy) appears, Pirates of the Carribean II becomes the pleasing adventure it means to be.  Jones and his ship of cursed sea creatures are not only some of the most detailed visuals in the history of computer effects, but interesting and entertaining characters.  The conceptual design of these creatures is inspired and creative, the kind of imaginative fantasy that would make Ray Harryhausen smile.  Just take a look at Jones and his crew:

Pretty neat.

The second half of Pirates II is filled with high adventure involving Davy and the Kraken, so it naturally becomes far more engaging then idiotic shenanigans with pointless cannibals.  It’s here that Sparrow finally becomes a character again, and Depp makes the most of it.  Not even the flat performances by Orlando Bloom and the even worse Keira Knightley can slow down this juggernaut once it hits full speed.  The first major Kraken attack is a joyous bit of fantasy thrills, with the beast’s enormous tentacles crushing a ship in a flurry of chaos and destruction. It’s here that Verbinski shows a real talent for carefully constructed set-pieces, and he only tops himself as the film progresses.

Also interesting is the emergence of Will’s father, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), as one of Davy’s damned shipmates.  This is one subplot that actually matters, and it provides an effective dramatic anchor to the film’s rousing adventure.  Verbinski and his writers may be in predictable waters (had to) with this story, but it’s handled well enough to maintain interest in the characters.  The filmmakers do a more than adequate job of entertaining, while perfectly setting-up the final pirate adventure, At World’s End, next summer.

Hopefully film three is shorter and to the point - a full-length feature of the sort of thrills that make up the second half of Dead Man’s Chest.