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 Silly fun like the first, but not as good Jul 18, 2010
I would give this movie 3.5 stars because while it is a fun action movie like the first one, it has issues. Entire sequences feel unnecessary and some of the recycled dialog seems out of place. Still, the action was on par with the first and the special effects were even better. If you enjoyed the first movie and are looking for more of the same, this sequel does deliver.
Right away, Elizabeth and Will Turner are in trouble - arrested before their wedding for having helped Captain Jack Sparrow escape (as seen in the first movie). Lord Cutler Beckett from the East India Trading Company says they are free to go if they can get him the special compass which Sparrow has. Will goes off in search of Jack, who has encountered his own new problems. Having made a deal with Davy Jones to obtain the Black Pearl years ago, Jack must now pay up by serving on Davy Jones' ship for 100 years or face the Kraken, a huge sea creature which destroys ships. Ever the pirate, Jack tries to find a way around it and searches for the Dead Man's Chest where Davy Jones has hidden his heart. Elizabeth soon goes off in search of Will, who has ended up on Jones' ship in search of the key for the Chest. Ex-Commodore Norrington also shows up again, this time disgraced and on the run as well.
The special effects were great, especially the portrayal of Davy Jones and his crew who all looked like half human, half sea creatures. The Kraken - basically a large octopus - was okay but could've been better. For a period of time, the movie shows Jack and his crew captives of natives on an island from which they must escape. While it provided a couple humorous moments, this entire sequence felt unnecessary. It made the movie longer than it needed to be. They also tried to recycle some of the more humorous and popular lines from the first one, which worked in places but felt too forced in others.
For me the highlight was a rather entertaining sequence with Jack, Will, and Norrington all dueling one another for their own self-interests. In general, the actors did the best they could with what they had; however, this sequel didn't seem as well-written as the first. The movie does maintain the same sense of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously (nor should the viewer). And the ending did leave me wanting to see the third film in the series.
 dvd Jul 15, 2010
This was a good dvd for being a used product. I would buy from this seller again.
Should have been called Monsters of the Caribbean. Jul 12, 2010
Over-all this is a very FUN movie. That said it is also a some what dark and sad one. This movie is missing some of the magic that made the first one so special and one of my favorites, but it is not lacking in action and story, just that the story is not really a happy one, and is obviously all just a set up for the next movie. That said there are some amazing and hilarious swordfight scenes. I just wish they hadn't have made all the characters such back stabbers. You start to wonder who to even root for.
 Pretty darn awful... Jul 07, 2010
Stunningly lame acting (including by Depp, which was a particularly unpleasant surprise), and a plot that must have been invented by juveniles while playing with action figures. Some nice effects, but some of the money for them should have been used instead on real writers. Depp's incessant limp-wristed drunken swagger is appallingly bad, to the point of being painful to watch, and the whole mess just drags on for far too long. Give this one a skip...
A decided drop in the "Pirates" fortunes! Jun 06, 2010
Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Man's Chest"(released June/06)returns us to the wonderful world of swordplay and swashbuckling that made the first installment such a hit.However something is amiss in this film and things don't hit the mark like they did in the first;not by a country mile.Let's look and see what happened.
The story this time takes us back to the exploits and troubles of Capt.Sparrow.The EIT(East India Trading Company) now holds sway in Jamaica and their number one man Lord Beckett.He controls the British fleet in the area and has sentenced Will and Elizabeth and ex-Commodore Norrington(in absentia)to die.However he will stay his order if Will and Elizabeth hunt for Sparrow and his errant compass.To buy time they agree and set off.
Their search leads them to an island where the Pearl has run aground and Jack and his crew are indentured to local cannibals;with Jack as the head of a tribe.Will and Elizabeth eventually free Jack and his crew and they head for the sea.Jack persuades Will to help him find the key to the chest which contains pirate Davy Jones'(Bill Nighy)heart.Sparrow's time is now up and he must change places with Jones as its captain.Jack will give Will his compass if Will will help,but a dark priestess Tia Dalma(Naomie Harris)tells him the compass won't work unless the person who possess it really knows what he wants.While at sea however Jones in the Flying Dutchman catches up to the Pearl and captures Sparrow.Jack puts off his purgatory by persuading Jones that he can get 100 souls for his crew within three days.Will is left behind as collateral.
Back in Jamaica a grieving Governor frees his daughter Elizabeth and at gunpoint she retrieves a letter from Lord Beckett which originally was to hire Sparrow as a privateer but she now wants for Will.She steals aboard a ship which lands in Tortuga just as Jack is there recruiting crewmen/souls for Jones' ship.After finding Jack he lets Elizabeth in on the compass's secret which he gives to her;and to their amazement it seems to get a bearing.They head off with a now disheveled and disgraced Commodore Norrington aboard also.
They eventually reach an island and all three join up with Will,who with the help of his father,had escaped the Flying Dutchman.They find the chest with Davy Jones heart inside but Will has the key which he stole from Davy Jones.A fight breaks out between the three men but Norrington escapes with the heart and the letters from Lord Beckett.Sparrows crew escape with the(empty)chest and outrun the Dutchman in hot pursuit.Jone's has no choice but to call on the Kraken to kill Sparrow.As everyone abandons ship Jack is finally devoured by the beast and Jones calls the debt settled.However he is less than happy to find the chest empty.
Back in Jamaica Norrington delivers the letter and heart of Davy Jones to Beckett.Tia Dalma meanwhile is host to Elizabeth,Will and the remaining crew of the Pearl.She asks if they have the courage to sail to the ends of the earth to return Sparrow back to the living.All are in agreement and who should agree to Captain the venture.....old Captain Barbossa.
This movie like the first has non-stop action and alot of humour throughout but this time around something has gone awry.The movie seems to have psyched itself out by trying to do TOO much with the plot.There are so many plot twists in this film it is very easy to lose track of who knows what or who is doing what to whom at any given moment.There are also sequences on the Cannibal island and the deserted island where the chest is located which are far less than what they should have been.In the former when the crew is rescued the action goes on interminably long with them dangling over cliffs and their inter action with the natives.On the island where the chest is located again the fight scenes which are supposed to be funny aren't and the silly three way fight scene on the turning wheel falls flat.Some judicious editing should have been done here.However the most important factor in this movies' lackluster performance falls on the one person who made it the success it was in the first place;Johnny Depp.The off beat eccentric character with all his eccentricities are not there as they were in the first one.Here Sparrow is more often than not quite serious and circumspect and the underlying "flakiness" is not to be seen.This totally deflates the impact the movie would otherwise have had and had it been there it would have deflected attention from the shortcomings I listed previously.No matter how talented the actors are if the same qualities that make an original do not make a sequel,then my maties,there be troubles ahead!This "ship" definitely hit the doldrums.
Technically the movie has been transferred well in sight and sound and is presented here in its widescreen version.The only extras available in this one disc DVD are some bloopers and audio commentary.
All in all a big disappointment from the first film.The film tries to do way too much and the plots twists can leave your head spinning.Depps' characterization of Sparrow is NOT what is was in the first film and this especially drags the proceedings down.The fine SFX effects are there as are the solid cast but it can't overcome its own hurtles.Let us see what the third installment does.
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