Better than the Disney Ride

For a film that had its origins with a fun ride that one could line up for at the Disney amusement parks, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was no slouch, topping over $654-M worldwide. The second installment, Dead Man’s Chest, took enough time getting off the drawing board. But it’s finally here, and while it does help to have seen the first movie, Dead Man’s Chest gets my high marks for being a thoroughly entertaining two hours of broad comedy, pirate lore and high sea fantasy/adventure. In fact, I’ve taken the Disney ride with my boys, and as we were leaving the Studio 23 movie premiere, they proclaimed that this movie was much more fun than the ride with its animatronic figures. Much of America seems to agree, as grosses for the new film’s opening weekend hit the $154-M mark.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is known for his big budget approach to movie as spectacle, and with director Gore Verbinski again reporting for duty, he has found a match made in cinematic heaven. The panoramic shots that capture the open sea, the inlets where the towns of Port Royal and the pirate lair Tortuga lie, the scenes where blowgun-wielding mountain tribes live – they all make the film a dizzying, but exhilarating, experience. It was for vistas such as these that we hark back and understand why a TV screen can never replace the experience that’s captured when in a movie house or cinema.

Most of the characters from the 2003 movie are back. Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), as are most of the supporting cast that so wonderfully gave the first film texture. The major new character is Davey Jones (Bill Nighy), and he’s a macabre creation, half-man/half-octopus, recruiting dying seamen and offering them extensions in life by doing service on his Flying Dutchman ghost ship. It’s a limbo of a life, servitude that’s halfway between life and death.

What makes a great change with Pirates is that we are no longer saddled with the alienation and angst of this summer’s crop of superhero blockbusters. Taking its cue from the "gay outsider" mindset, we had a flurry of X-Men and Supermen all trying to fit in, while performing their super duties. With Jack Sparrow, we celebrate a scoundrel and rogue who is still lovable, and whom we cheer on with guilty delight! Deceit, double-talk and dissembling, outright lust, regaling in inebriation, Johnny Depp channeling brain-addled (read pritong utak) Rolling Stone Keith Richards has never been more enjoyable. Until the very end of the film, there’s practically no redeeming quality to this character – and we just don’t care!

This early on, it’s great to hear that two sequels were shot when they did principal photography for Dead Man’s Chest. Set for Summer 2007 release, the third in the series even has Chow Yun Fat as a Chinese pirate. That another mainstay from the first film is on board for the third is also revealed at the end of Dead Man’s Chest. It’s certainly turning into a rollicking saga that has us eagerly anticipating each installment. While others may diss the creaky manner in which concepts like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings turned into franchise films, Pirates revels in being outrageous and over-the-top. And as long as you have Jack Sparrow roosting on board, it seems this Pirates series has its sea legs intact. And for taking literally the question of what do you find in a Dead Man’s Chest, full marks go to the screenplay writers. My boys were both grossed out and laughing out loud when Sparrow finally opened the "treasure chest."