Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

A little cheesy, a little epic, a whole lotta fun!

I have been anticipating the sequel to Pirates since the day I saw Curse of the Black Pearl for the first time in theaters. And this movie did not disappoint.

As always, Johnny Depp gave a fabulous performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. However it was Orlando Bloom's performance that I was most impressed by. Will Turner is a man now, grown from the boy he was in the first film. And this is reflected in how he performs. Aside from the Lord of the Rings movies, I haven't been that impressed by his acting chops. And he's made some similarly epic movies; Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, etc. But his acting as Will Turner in this movie impressed me just as much as his Legolas role, and for me, that's saying something. I believe he's trying to forge his way through Hollywood as more than the "pretty boy", and if he keeps performing like this, he'll soon be making movies as off-the-wall as his co-star Depp. Bring it on, I say!

Elizabeth Swan was also more grown up, more into her "own" in this movie. I enjoyed watching how much the characters had grown since the last movie.

And of course, Capt. Sparrow is notorious for getting himself in trouble. We finally see the Black Pearl as the ship it was first meant to be, merely a pirate ship, not a "ghost" ship, and that was great. Even the cute little monkey from the first movie makes an appearance, much to Sparrow's dismay. Instead of being a member of the crew, the monkey "Jack" is more of an annoying nuisance. But it works well for comic relief.

Davy Jones was amazing, I must say. Not only did the actor do a fine job, but the CGI was top-notch. You actually believe he's got tentacles on his face! And each member of his crew are covered in barnacles, clams, and all sorts of nasty sea creatures. Some even resemble hammer-head sharks and hermit crabs! The imagination put in to Davy Jones's crew wasn't lost on me. I loved looking at each one of them. It was amazing.

And the Kraken. Wow. That thing was just too cool! Davy can summon the thing at his whim, and many a ship is lost to it. The way Captain Sparrow and Will Turner battle the thing is just too cool, as they did something that I would have never thought of, but would seem so very obvious. I will not spoil that for you. :)

For those of you who've ridden the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at one of the many Disney theme parks will recognize an element from the ride in the movie. I was laughing at it because it was just too cool, pointing at the screen going "Look at that!"

Unfortunately the friend I was sitting next to had never been on the ride. Dang it. My elation at seeing it was deflated. :P But still awesome, nonetheless. I'll not spoil that either. I'll leave that for you to figure out for yourself. All I'll say is, think of the Blue Bayou. :)

The end of the movie HEAVILY sets up the third, Pirates III: At World's End. And I can't WAIT for that one, either! There's a surprise at the ending that I totally wasn't expecting, but probably made the entire movie worth it. And word of advice, stay until the end of the credits. I heard there was something at the end, and there is. Unfortunately, my friends left before the end and so they missed it. Their loss. One last chuckle. :P

All in all, even with some of it's cheesy situations (the natives on the island) this movie was fun with a capital F. If you liked the first Pirates movie, you'll love this one as well. I'd highly recommend anyone to go see it, but if you're going this weekend, better Fandango your tickets. Our theater was sold out, as was the shows before it.

Or you can wait a few weeks. But seriously, how can you put off Captain Jack Sparrow? He's a pirate after my own heart. :)

~~Becka