Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Under normal circumstances I’d give it 4 stars, but there is a kind of magic line running through the whole movie that made me add one bonus star (and no, it's not because of Depp). Dead Man's Chest is much darker than The Black Pearl, and the story is much more elaborate, which is a big plus. Chest is also funny to hilarious, unfortunately not always in a good way. Some jokes are unnecessarily exaggerated and certainly don't help the story, while others are perfect and fitting (I laughed until my stomach hurt, literally :). It's as if Verbinski is trying to stuff two different kinds of humor into one movie (perhaps he really tried, but without success). The characters of Elizabeth and Will have undergone an amazing change. They're no longer just Captain Jack's appendages, but individual and distinct beings. Keira in particular is wonderful at the end (she reminded me of Domino). The special effects are even better than last time, and Davy Jones' crew easily outdoes the skeletons from the first movie. And Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow was flawless, of course, but it’s a shame he lost the element of surprise... The magical storyline vanished into thin air. 4 (09/07/2006)

Between four and five stars. Far funnier and more playful than number one. I can't remember a time in a long time when I roared with laughter along with the whole cinema so hard that I had to wipe tears from my eyes, like when the main characters escape from the cannibals. The film has a slower pace in the beginning and has some passages that had me falling asleep (zero hours of sleep a night will have its share of that), but when the filmmakers put their minds to it, it's worth it. Some scenes are so rewarding that it goes to absurd lengths. Case in point, as the three main characters all fence against each other over the chest mentioned in the title, THEN Keira Knightley throws rocks at them, THEN behind her back two pirates are just now stealthily carrying the chest to the ship, THEN all the characters are still fighting over the key to the chest, and THEN some fishermen come out of the sea with the same goal. I'm not counting the continuation of the scene, where ON TOP OF THAT they add a mill wheel. For my part, I like that kind of bombastic playfulness, combined with Johnny Depp tickling my diaphragm again (maybe even more than in the first one), I'd really feel sorry about that four. (08/03/2006)

The most treacherous part of the trilogy not only in terms of character actions. Perhaps it would be appropriate to say that the second part deserved to be cut and combined with the third into one movie, but it probably wouldn't work. I myself have caught myself wanting to watch Pirates all the time, even though it doesn't mean that Dead Man's Chest is flawless. It is really overloaded, some plotlines are pointless (cannibals), some desperately unremarkable, but who cares when it's such fun. The endlessly mentioned fight on the mill wheel and everything around it, together with the final Kraken performance, is a true adrenaline delight. (05/30/2007)

It's not Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman who cursed Captain Jack, it's the fat Disney purse from which Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest draws from the most. The result is a classic middle film, which does not have a properly designated beginning and end, which means that it feels rather cheerfully chaotic. The characters essentially do what they always do, they bounce here and there, there is constant tomfoolery, they entertain the spectators, they bring a new villain to the party, and when one feels in their bones that something memorable should finally start, Hans Zimmer blows the unforgettable pirate fanfare and sails to the port called "Part Number Three". The cheerful pile of Dead Man's Chest stories thus remains half open, half closed. It is certainly positive that, within the abilities of the screenwriter and the director, the characters develop, they profile themselves, that old animosities and friendships are not repeated, and that new friction and tension arise. Undoubtedly, the film has great effects, and Zimmer's music is also excellent. Those who are more sensitive will be provoked by the aforementioned lack of borders and playing for effect. But this spectacle is mainly about the effects, so why cry? Maybe because the film lacks gradation and brisk acceleration at certain moments. The fact that certain dialogues drag on like the Kraken's slime. That Johnny Depp uses his built-in grimace repertoire and his Jack is no longer the amazing centerpiece. That not all choreographies are as busy as the one on the mill wheel. The second film also caught the wind in its sails and took a gulp of good rum. Maybe the film got a little more serious and perhaps lost a bit of the mischief from the first film. And the film undoubtedly suffers from the syndrome of the middle part of the trilogy. [7/10] (08/15/2006)

Typical megalomania from Bruckheimer's workshop that stands and falls with the directorial skill of Mr. Verbinski, who managed to give the entire colossus the right stamp of a classic pirate adventure. It’s also cut with a solid dose of perspective because, without his steady guidance, Depp's antics, the thrilling special effects work, or the potential of the top-notch cast (the demonic Bill Nighy, the charismatic Stellan Skarsgård) might have fizzled out. The whole never loses its dynamism and the plot - although very simple - moves forward at a furious speed, meaning that even the 150-minute runtime is ultimately a pleasantly watchable experience. It’s no-brain popcorn entertainment that fulfills its goal (to entertain everyone) one hundred percent if you are not a die-hard intellectual who lacks a sense of fun. (01/14/2007)