Saturday, July 29, 2006

PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN (#2... of 3? or more?)


Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest.

I don't get it. I just don't understand why this flick is so popular. I am, frankly, clueless.
  • It is slightly funny, but other films are funnier.
  • Depp's performance is weird, and isn't even surprising -- it's just a pale version of his performance in the first film.
  • It has a few very good set pieces, but so do a lot of better films.
  • The plot is murky... the motivation for most of the story unconvincing.
  • The visual quality is murky. I thought it would be great to see it in a theater rather than on video, but much of the film is dark and dirty. Not too much is interesting to look at.
  • The "story" is not really told very well.
  • The pirates don't do any pirating... How do they make a living?
  • I had trouble understanding a lot of the dialog.
  • I had trouble remembering who was who as characters popped up after being gone for a while.
  • It has no ending... just a set-up for a sequel.

What am I missing? Is it made for young boys who were on the ride, and love ugly, dirty creatures, killing, lashing, and gore? Or is it for young girls, looking for forbidden love with a dashing evil pirate who will be really good-at-heart when he is inspired by a beautiful woman?

Is the search for the key to Davy Jones Locker such a resonant mythology these days that it will power the whole film to record box office?

The film is a perfectly fine example of escapist entertainment, but why so popular?

For lots of information about this film, see Wikipedia.

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