When I first heard that famed crap-monger Jerry Bruckheimer was producing a film based on a theme ride at Disney World my head almost exploded at the monumental absurdity of the idea. Couple this with the fact that it was to be directed by Gore Verbinski, a man who has done a small mish-mash of non descript, yet non offensive films that reveal no real distinctive vision or style, and suddenly even pondering such a project made me as confused as a feral child on mescaline.
But, for some unfathomable reason, 2003s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl turned out to be a great time in the theatre, and probably the best adventure film to come out since the 80s. Given the, at least to myself, unexpected success of the first film we are now faced with a sequel. So, how does it fare? Come along on a critical journey with me, and we'll find out together.
This new Pirates film reunites pretty much the entire cast and crew of the first, and the result is a similarly enjoyable movie. All of the characters that you're used to seeing return; including Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, who has become perhaps the first classic film icon of this century. Basically, this is a mystical pirate adventure film with the same visual style, same bombastic Hans Zimmer score, and same type of action and hijinx as the first. If you enjoyed the first one, I cant imagine that you wouldn't like this one as well.
The aspects of this film that impressed me the most were probably the visual effects and production design. I'm usually not one to pay much attention to special effects, unless they're so bad that they actively detract from the viewing experience, but I have to say that the CG work in this movie is truly impressive. There are examples of good effects throughout, but the most glaringly awesome example are the characters of Davy Jones and his crew. Each is a fully realized CG character that serves as an impressive feat of both design and execution. I didn't really think that we'd see a fully CG character that rivaled the Lord of the Ring's Gollum anytime soon, but I think that Davy Jones surpasses that work. Often I complain about too much unnecessary computer work being shoehorned into modern films when it isn't wanted or needed, but you get none of that here. The visual effects in this film are seamless, and truly impressive.
Not all of the credit for the character of Davy Jones can be given to the designers and effects men, however. Actor Bill Neighy provided the basis for the performance and motion capture that became Jones, and he does a great job bringing the character to life. Its not hard to tell that, despite the fact that most of Jones face is made up of squid tentacles, much of the animation is based on an original performance by Nighy. Of course, its hard to be sure exactly who came up with what, but as a collaboration, the character of Davy Jones stands as a great achievement. How then, did the rest of the cast fare?
As previously mentioned, Johnny Depp returns as the universally beloved Captain Jack. He plays the character in much the same manner here as in the first, and from his introduction on, his actions and mannerisms are familiar and welcome. This is a character that Depp nailed the first time, and he appears to have a good time getting a chance to revisit him. One complaint I did have is that the humor surrounding Jack in this film relied too heavily on references to funny things he did or said in the first movie. As a result, you get less of the off the wall dialogue out of Jack than you did in the first. Slightly disappointing, but overall a good job.
Orlando Bloom also returns as the character of Will Turner, and he's pretty much just as bland and boring a character as in the first. Everything that Turner does is rooted in his love for Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann, and ultimately it makes the character a white meat babyface snoozefest. I suppose that if you're in the camp that finds Bloom toe twinklingly pretty, then you'll enjoy him here; but ultimately I find both the character and the performance to be wooden. I must admit, however, that there's an interesting moment late in the film that complicated Will's motivations, put a fire in his eyes, and should make the character's direction more interesting for the third film.
The character of Elizabeth takes steps toward being much more complex and intriguing in this film, and Knightley ups her game accordingly. I wouldn't say that she particularly impresses me with her performance, but she's perfectly passable, and I wouldn't say that she was a bad choice in female lead to carry these films.
My favorite performance in the film came as a shock, with Jack Davenport returning as Norrington. A one note villain character in the first, Norrington is complex and delightful here as a drunken, downtrodden shit-talker. I didn't give much thought to this character in the first film, and Davenport didn't particularly impress, but here he is given much more to do and he, like Knightley, rises to the occasion. While this film works well in complicating most of the pre-existing characters motivations, Norrington gets the most drastic overhaul, and its wicked entertaining to watch his motivations and state of mind alter and evolve over the course of the film.
In addition to the returning actors, Stellan Skarsgard and Naomie Harris join the cast with enjoyable performances as undead, barnacle ridden pirate Bootstrap Bill and creepy voodoo chick Tia Dalma respectively. Skarsgard is always good at being grim and grizzly, and here his usual performance is heightened because he is covered in gross looking makeup and is playing an eternally damned pirate. Tia Dalma could have been a ridiculous cartoon character, but Harris instills her with an intimidating sexuality that keeps the character interesting in her brief appearances.
So, overall, Pirates 2 is a fun, action filled adventure film that stays true to the first while simultaneously turning things up a notch. Its definitely a step above the other big films of the summer so far this year, but thats not to say that its perfect. Clocking in at 150 minutes, this film falls to what is becoming a modern trend of blockbuster films being just too long. There's a scene on a cannibal infested island early in the film that, while fun, could have been cut down in order to get this to a more acceptable two hour runtime. Really, I don't have any problems with a movie being two and a half hours, as long as the material warrants it. If your story is epic in scope enough, your subject matter serious enough, and your pacing spot on, then it can work. Here though, the film is supposed to have a fast fun, big adventure feel, and it begins to suffocate under its own weight towards the end. I also had problems with the ending, which is a cliff hanger for the third film. Usually, I wouldn't have a problem with this, as I love film trilogies, but in order for an ending to be satisfactory you've got to come to some sort of resolution. Pick one thing, whether it be some sort of personal issue between characters, some man vs. something conflict, or whatever, and resolve it. As long as you resolve one thing, your film can stand alone as a feature unto itself. Here though, no questions are answered, no threats are taken care of, and it ultimately feels like you’ve just paid to see one half of a movie. Despite this, Pirates is a good time overall and I'd mildly recommend it. Come on, its got pirates in it!
