Hello, Beastie!
I don't understand how this film is getting bad reviews. If someone would be kind enough to drop me a line and explain, I would greatly appreciate it.
"The first Pirates movie was a smash hit, making over $650 million worldwi--" blah blah blah. We liked it, plain and simple. Everyone did (or at least said they did at the time), and the second installment in the soon-to-be three-part series is almost a carbon copy of the first. Just replace those skeletons with half-fish/half-man creatures that look like the villains from the old Power Rangers! shows, add a few very talented actors to the cast, and there you are.
I'll agree, there are plenty of films/franchises that suffer from similarity or repetition. In Home Alone 3 I was praying that the bad guys would catch the kid, torture him, and then sell his severed head on eBay. Babe: Pig in the City was an unnecessary chore (made necessary for the studio after the first film managed to garner an Oscar nomination for best flippin picture), Homeward Bound II was a chore and a half, and by the time we got to the third Aladdin movie I was far too old, and also far too close to cutting open a vein every time another damn musical number kicked in. But give me a second - albeit similar - helping of Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Pirates of the Caribbean whenever you like.
The critics are right, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest does not seem as "fresh" as the first one. Personally, I don't care. It's a summer movie as summer movies should be, full of lighthearted action heavily salted with jokes for all ages, and the performances (as was the case in the first film) are surprisingly good given a script that might have been written by the people who load you into the little boats at the Disneyland ride. Sure, this time around I've seen the whole "Crazy Jack Sparrow!" thing before (queue excited female voices: "Is he doing Keith Richards? Is he gay? Is he doing Dan Quail?"), but it doesn't matter because it's still funny. Remember how the whole "That's what she said!" joke was funny from 1999-2002, and the "Your momma's so fat..." thing was getting laughs from about 1989 until 1996 - that's like POTC. It's still working, at least for most of us. I will admit, there was a forced "why is the rum always gone" line towards the beginning of the film that made we wince in that "am I really going to have to sit through a two and a half hour movie that self-references and glad-hands itself like this?", but that was the only such moment.
I've already said the performances were excellent, but special note should be given to Jack Davenport as Norrington, who took his character to a new and hilarious place, an unrecognizable Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, and Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill. His performance was the only one devoid of comedy, making it that much more impressive since he pulled it off without a hitch.
I don't really want to give away too much of the film for those who haven't seen it, but it is essentially non-stop adventure. Isn't that what we want in the summer? Roger Ebert's fill-in (he's in the hospital at the moment) at the Chicago Sun Times was upset because one portion of the film "defied the laws of physics". I suppose that might bother you. But if it does, then you will also probably be bothered by the logic behind undead pirates, a compass that points to what "you most desire", a heart that has been ripped out of its owner and continues to beat in a box, and an enormous underwater beast that eats ships. If that's the case, you might consider skipping this film. But then, I guess if you want your movies to conform to the laws of physics and current scientific standards, you probably don't want to see Cars, Click, or Superman Returns either.
If you go to Pirates of the Caribbean expecting a groundbreaking film that will shape the morals, standards, and understandings of American society...well then you will probably be disappointed; however, if you go expecting to see a wildly entertaining summer blockbuster...well then you'll probably have a damned good time.
The Verdict: A-