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Chris Atkins · 07-11-2006, 05:08 PM

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

8.5/10

I had the privilege of watching this film last night at New York's Ziegfeld, which features a 2k digital projector. It was, quite simply, the best looking and sounding presentation I have ever seen.

To the film itself: I had fun with this one, and liked it much better on first viewing than the original. But that's because repeat viewings of the original led me to a deeper love and appreciation for these characters, and I had a blast seeing what happened to them here.

What I liked:

-the sense of fun; I thought they did a good job with the fun factor. Jack's introduction was a nice throwback to his intro in the first film; his antics were great (as always); a nice arc for a semi-villain from the first film was fun too

-the action set pieces: lots of creative and fun choreography on display (one sword fight that involves about 6 different people was a lot of fun to watch) and some interesting sets, etc.

-the special effects: Davey Jones is the best visual effect I've ever seen, will be tough to look past this at next year's Oscars (of course, if they have the same 'no sequel' rule that they had last year, then ILM can forget it)

-the music: Hans Zimmer really elevates the film with the music; he gave it an emotional weight that the music in the first film did not have

What I didn't like

-a skipping plot: As Adam mentioned above, the plot here took connectivity for granted; a lot of times, characters travel great distances in the time it took the editor to splice the scenes together, often giving you the sense that POTC2 is nothing but a collection of scenes instead of a merged whole

-some sequences were outlandish: screenwriters should NEVER AGAIN be allowed to have heroes fall from great distances and then walk away unscratched

-homages to other films: the homages to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc., took me out of the film eventually

-Orlando Bloom: I think he really struggles with the material. I haven't liked him in his last two roles (KOH and POTC2) but I liked him in LOTR and POTC1.

-Couldn't understand two characters: try as I might I could only understand the witch about 40% of the time and Davey Jones only about 75% of the time. They really needed more crisp articulation from these actors.

All in all, a fun movie with some problems. Can't wait for part III though, and I am going to see it again tonight.

07-11-2006, 05:08 PM	#11 of 17
Chris Atkins Member Join Date: May 2002 Local Time: 09:10 PM Local Date: 08-21-2008 Posts: 3,808	Re: * Official PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST Review Thread** Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 8.5/10 I had the privilege of watching this film last night at New York's Ziegfeld, which features a 2k digital projector. It was, quite simply, the best looking and sounding presentation I have ever seen. To the film itself: I had fun with this one, and liked it much better on first viewing than the original. But that's because repeat viewings of the original led me to a deeper love and appreciation for these characters, and I had a blast seeing what happened to them here. What I liked: -the sense of fun; I thought they did a good job with the fun factor. Jack's introduction was a nice throwback to his intro in the first film; his antics were great (as always); a nice arc for a semi-villain from the first film was fun too -the action set pieces: lots of creative and fun choreography on display (one sword fight that involves about 6 different people was a lot of fun to watch) and some interesting sets, etc. -the special effects: Davey Jones is the best visual effect I've ever seen, will be tough to look past this at next year's Oscars (of course, if they have the same 'no sequel' rule that they had last year, then ILM can forget it) -the music: Hans Zimmer really elevates the film with the music; he gave it an emotional weight that the music in the first film did not have What I didn't like -a skipping plot: As Adam mentioned above, the plot here took connectivity for granted; a lot of times, characters travel great distances in the time it took the editor to splice the scenes together, often giving you the sense that POTC2 is nothing but a collection of scenes instead of a merged whole -some sequences were outlandish: screenwriters should NEVER AGAIN be allowed to have heroes fall from great distances and then walk away unscratched -homages to other films: the homages to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc., took me out of the film eventually -Orlando Bloom: I think he really struggles with the material. I haven't liked him in his last two roles (KOH and POTC2) but I liked him in LOTR and POTC1. -Couldn't understand two characters: try as I might I could only understand the witch about 40% of the time and Davey Jones only about 75% of the time. They really needed more crisp articulation from these actors. All in all, a fun movie with some problems. Can't wait for part III though, and I am going to see it again tonight. My 2008 Film List My 2007 Film List My 2007 Top Ten My 2006 Film List My 2006 Top Ten My 2005 Top Ten Last edited by Chris Atkins : 07-11-2006 at 05:11 PM.