Pirates OTC: Dead Man's Chest

[azalea]

I think this movie does deserve its own thread. The thread for the last movie got a lot of response. If anyone disagrees, we can merge the two, but I respectfully would ask that the resulting thread be renamed simply "Pirates of the Caribbean."

I saw this today, and, to the poster in the other thread who is seeing it tonight: your questions are answered satisfactorily in the movie, although you really have to be listening to get everything in this one. Some of it goes by pretty quickly.

I won't go into too much at this early date so as not to "spile" anything, but will give my short review:

I really liked it. I suppose I prefer the first one if asked to compare for a couple of reasons. One is Geoffrey Rush (which means I might like the third one more than this one, hint hint). Two is that this one seems to be more plot-driven than character-driven, whereas the first was more characte-driven.

Thirdly, I do love the action/ swashbuckling, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but there were moments where it did feel contrived. I didn't have that feeling with the first one. There are definately some superb effects and action sequences, if you just sit back and enjoy them, remembering the kind of movie it is, and expect a lot of pure action sequences. Some of which look like the characters are on Disney rides.

I think I liked Elizabeth better in this one.

This movie kind of suffers from TTT syndrome: it is the middle of the trilogy, so there is a lot of movie to view, it doesn't have the happy advantage of introducing the plot, history, or character, but neither does it get to tie up the end of the whole story.

I would say that it is worth seeing before it leaves the theater, rather than waiting till the dvd.

I think I'll wait to open up discussion of the specifics until tomorrow or the next day, to give others a chance to see it! By then we can at least use "spoiler white" over our comments.

What do you think?

[HOBBIT]

it had it's moments. some parts were good - others dragged and were dull. about 30-40 minutes too long.

completely unsatisfying ending - if you can even call it that. just as it was getting good again it ends. have to wait for july 2007. :P


This movie could have and should have been shorter and had a good ending.

[durinsbane2244]

i see your point with the contrived bits. [i.e. the little flip with pole on back over chasm] the first was by far more realistic, in that sense . they both had quite a lot of rum jokes though, and i must say, the rum humor in this film merited quite a few chuckles from me. all in all, i thought it was a good film, and depp nailed sparrow to the letter[again].

[tolkienfan]

I'm seeing it tomorrow!

[durinsbane2244]

hm. as in, today? well. look forward to it. enjoy it. than talk about it.

[Rosie Gamgee]

I don't have enough time to say what I really think of this movie, but as if was mentioned, I will say:

The end of this movie KICKED BUTT. I just about died at the end. It was truly magnificent.

[tolkienfan]

Well, I actually didn't like it that much. It was very different from the first one. A lot darker and more violent. A few parts were good. The ending was quite a cliff-hanger. I should probably see it again before I give you specifics.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Okay, a full(er) report: (SEMI-SPOILERS THROUGHOUT)

What I liked:
-Bootstrap. I liked that they brought him back. I liked Stellan's protrayal of him. S.S. has always been a favorite actor. He did good with the role, especially given the precious little screen time and the horrid costume.
-The sword-fight bewteen Norry, Will, and Jack. Quite possibly the most brilliantly choregraphed and executed sword fight ever. I don't think a three-way sword-fight has ever been done like this before. Truly amazing.
-The end. Might I clarify by saying that it was the last thirty seconds that I died for. That has got to be the best cheesy-hero-reentry in movie history. I cheered. It rocked.
-The fight in Tortuga. It had the same feeling as an old timey John Wayne beer-brawl. Not done in a Hollywood movie in ages. A thing of beauty.
-Pintel and Raggetti. Loverly having more of these guys. A delight, IMO.

What I didn't:
-Beckett. Yes, he made a good antagonist, but all his scenes were like anecdotes. A rushed into character.
-Davy Jones and motley crew. The character of Davy Jones is fine to use, I suppose. But the Flying Dutchman is a ghost-ship. What is with all these be-barnacled pirates? Very dumb and cumbersome, IMHO.
-Lack of character moments, especially for those newly intro-ed characters like Bootstrap, Jones, and Beckett. They were all so annoyingly cookie-cut out!
-The special effects/the kraken. Mind, they were well-done. But they detracted from the movie too much. The beauty of the last one is that, due to thinking it was going to be the B-movie of the summer, the makers were bound by monetary constraints. Hence, they had to think up a way to make a movie entertaining without spending heaps of money. Thus all those great character moments in the first film; great speeches, stories, dialogue. In this film, it was obvious they were given a heck of a lot more money than the first to make it. They did what every other multi-million-dollar movie does: delivers a mindless plot meant to showcase a CG monster. Stupid Hollywood.
-The comedy. Do not get me wrong. This movie was so entertaining in the way of comedy that it hurt. I laughed so hard I near-cried a few times. But it dragged down the serious parts and made the whole movie entirely too corny. The first film was a near-perfect blend of comedy, romance, action, and adventure. DMC capitalized on the comedy and made all the rest suffer for it.

Overall rating:
I'd like to give it more, for its affiliation to The Curse of the Black Pearl. But if I remain completely unbiased and rate it as a separate entity, I'd have to give it... 3 1/2 out of 10.
It was funny as all get out, and very entertaining. But the plot wandered everywhere, the characters were reduced to shallow card-board cut-outs of themselves, and the special effects and comedy took up too much of the driver's-seat.

[tolkienfan]

I'm kind of mad about what they did to Norrington. In the first one he was kind of weird, but a good person. I hope he redeems himself in the next one.

[azalea]

I agree about Norrington.

Rosie, point taken about Beckett.
Davy Jones is a euphamism for "under the sea," so I think that's why they made him and his crew look that way.

[tolkienfan]

I pretty much agree with everything Rosie said. I also thought that all the rolling things were too much. I liked the water wheel part, but with the cage thing in the same movie I thought it was too overdone.

[Khamûl]

I think I'll side with most everyone else and say that I liked it alright, but not nearly as much as the first one. My general response is "ehhhh....."

Here's a question: did anyone else have trouble understanding parts of the dialogue? I don't know if it was the accent (I normally don't have trouble), or if the music was overpowering, or maybe they were instructed to speak as if they had a mouthful of grits (particularly Jack and Tia Dalma).

[Rosie Gamgee]

I didn't have much trouble understanding it. Maybe it was the sound-system in the cinema?

I would say that my general response to the movie, in one sentence, would be: "Bwwaaahahahahahaaaa; HILARIOUS; okay, now where's the real one?"

[azalea]

Jack I could understand, it's just that he speaks so quickly that you really have to hang on every word to catch it (ie, when he's explaining things).

Tia Dalma had a very thick accent, so although I could understand her, I had to work at it.

I think the dialogue in general is delivered very quickly.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by azalea

Jack I could understand, it's just that he speaks so quickly that you really have to hang on every word to catch it (ie, when he's explaining things).

Tia Dalma had a very thick accent, so although I could understand her, I had to work at it.

I think the dialogue in general is delivered very quickly.

Kind of Gilbert & Sullivan-esque, eh? I always though Jack should sing the "I am a Pirate King" song...

[rohirrim TR]

I thought it rather ironic, that the tag line for 'dead man's chest' was "captain jack is back" when he actually dies in this movie, a little weird, and then Barbossa comes back out of nowhere. trippy.

[Elfhelm]

I don't know... it seemed like the movie was a setup for MORE themed rides at DisneyLand. So they can have Kraken tentacles rising up beside you, and a Flying Dutchman breaching, and the river trip to go past the witch with the darkness and yellow lighting and mannikins in the water. I saw the first movie several times, but this one... *yawn*...

Besides, that which is contrary inside me wants to gripe about The Flying Dutchman doesn't sink. The Kraken is another creature altogether. Leviathan is not an alternate name for the Kraken. Cap'n Jack's fake Hawaiian is hardly even funny.

I couldn't suspend disbelief.

And then I waited for the extra scene after the credits. I can only say, don't bother.

It has been too long since a good movie has come out. All these sequels and continuations are just so watered-down.

[hectorberlioz]

Here's what I think/thought:

The Keira opening scared me. Keira Knightley looking sad in a rainy movie? I thought I was in purgatory...

Alas, when Jack Sparrow blew the bird off his boat, I knew the life was still in him (really).

And the story, though here and there, was fun, though not interesting.
The movie was story driven, which was not so good as character driven, as Rosie has pointed out. But the scenes, the characters and the good laughs made up for the "wrong pull" of the story.

I thought Bootstrap Bill was good, but I had a hard time digesting Davy Jones (really) and his crew, who were too "Monster-ey" for me, esp. the flathead shark.

The cracken was interesting to see up close, but after the first attack, I was bored to tears. I can't stand monsters. (Nor FX driven movies).

Norrington was definitely different, and though his character here could have been almost an entirely different character altogether, I thought the change was interesting, though it stripped him of some the pomp dignity he had in No.1.

The swordfight between Norrington, Jack and Will was the best part of the movie, with the cannibal island being second best.
I wouldn't say it was an FX driven movie, but it was definitely an action and fun driven movie. But is that a bad thing? The first one was certainly that (action and fun), except it happened to have a better plot. I'm probably speaking as someone who's only seen the first a dozen times, whereas you guys have probably seen it a couple dozen...and attached yourselves to the way the characters were. But I think it'll grow on you...

It was a tad too long. I think they could've done at least two cracken attacks instead of three, and thrown out a bit of the longeur choreorgaphy of Keira throwing rocks and pretending to faint.

[durinsbane2244]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

The Keira opening scared me. Keira Knightley looking sad in a rainy movie? I thought I was in purgatory...

i really hate that woman...she spent the whole first movie with her mouth open! no really! watch closely! she shuts it maybe....maybe ...once!
and the opening? "stoner" was definately the first word that popped into my head, thanks very much...

I thought Bootstrap Bill was good, but I had a hard time digesting Davy Jones (really) and his crew, who were too "Monster-ey" for me, esp. the flathead shark.

ok, bear with me. looking at Davy's face...just his face...cutting out even the surrounding head, does he not look like a blue johnny carson? he does! really! watch it!

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

i really hate that woman...she spent the whole first movie with her mouth open! no really! watch closely! she shuts it maybe....maybe ...once!
and the opening? "stoner" was definately the first word that popped into my head, thanks very much...

very glad someone else noticed! My younger sis pointed the opne-mouth thing out to me, and sure enough!