Saturday, May 11, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

 


Dead Man's Chest is the 2006 sequel to Curse of the Black Pearl. The movie is again directed by Gore Vabinski and sees the main cast of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightly return to their roles as Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann, respectively. This is the movie where the Pirates movies took a darker, more serious tone. It lost a lot of the humor that was in the first movie, which I think made that one so good. Not that there was no humor in this one, it was just darker humor, and while Curse of the Black Pearl did not really take itself ultra seriously, this one did. This movie also felt like it took a long time to get through. Like the wheel fight gag, while humorous and fun at first, took like it took forever to pay off. The big additions to the cast in this movie are Bill Nighy as Davy Jones and Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill. 

The story this time centers around Jack trying to outmaneuver Davy Jones and the Kracken that he unleashes on those that owe him a debt (and really anyone who gets in his way), and Will finding out what happened to his father. Jack Davenport returns as Commodore Norrington, still acting as a foil to Jack and the crew, but this time in a much different capacity. While Geoffrey Rush was the standout in the first movie, I think Davenport was the standout in this one, stealing most of the scenes he was in.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is again top-notch. The special effects are even better in this one, and the "monster-like" characters in this one are even less fake-looking than the undead pirates in the first movie. In fact, the only spot you can really tell that the shot was against a green screen is one of the shots with the Kracken toward the end of the movie. Other than that, everything looks seamless. There are tons of extras on the blu-ray as well. Much more than (although pretty much the same type as) were included in the extras for the first movie.  The extras include several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, a movie showcase, and more. The is well over three hours' worth of material for those who like to go through the bonus features.

The movie is not perfect. This is the movie where a lot of people who liked the first movie but ended up hating the franchise seemed to take a turn. While Curse of the Black Pearl could have really been one stand-alone, great movie, I do think this one gets more of a bad rep than it deserves. Liking or disliking a movie like this is very subjective, but if you go into it knowing that it may not live up to what the first one was, and is not a carbon copy of the first one (which would not have worked either) then I think you can find this enjoyable. It has a very good blend of action, comedy/humor, and drama and is worth the time to watch. 

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