The Pirates Strike Back
07/13/2006 10:05 Filed in: Movies and Television
A Guest Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest by Andrew Wells
In an article I read some years ago, George Lucas, before he worked on Star Wars, spent time with Francis Ford Coppola on preproduction for Apocalypse Now. Lucas and Coppola were looking for inspiration, so they turned to Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, Michael Herr’s Dispatches and much of the work of Joseph Campbell and T.S. Elliot.
Lucas can say all he wants about envisioning six or nine movies in his saga, but he probably thought he’d never get past Star Wars. But when he did, Lucas felt like he had to make a more “serious” film, and a “darker” one. The article argues that much of his research for Apocalypse factored into the themes of The Empire Strikes Back: fathers and sons, finding your true nature, and so on.
Apparently the same approach is used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (hereafter referred to as Pirates, because it’s too long to keep typing). The first Pirates has its share of emotion (Barbosa’s soliloquy about his plight is saddening), but it is really just a popcorn movie with lots of action, scares and comedy.
Not this time around. We get some impressive action, including an exciting “Mexican standoff” version of a swordfight, some good scares and some comedy. But we also get serious themes about “What do you truly want?” and “Will you make the right choices at the right time?” It’s not quite sitting through a lecture, but after awhile it drags down the movie. And there is a lot of “dark”—physically and thematically.
Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley) have their wedding day ruined when they are arrested by Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), a representative of the East India Trading Company, for helping Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) escape from the noose. Beckett offers Will a deal: find Jack Sparrow, bring back Jack’s “broken” compass to be set free. Having no choice, Will agrees. Eventually, Elizabeth sets out on to find Will. Meanwhile, Jack is doing everything he can to hide from Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), because Jack owes him a very serious debt. So everybody travels their own paths, just like in Empire. And everybody has to confront some darkness in others and themselves, like in Empire. And the movie ends on a sort-of cliffhanger, with a lot of loose ends, like in Empire. Think of Yoda as a voodoo priestess, and you’ve got the idea.
Remember what I said about dark? Believe it. This has got to be the darkest movie Disney has ever given its logo, and is definitely NOT for children in any way. There are some gruesome images (including a man having his eye plucked out, a beating heart, any sight of Davy Jones and his crew) that probably should have gotten the movie an R. There’s also a lot of sexual innuendo—far more than in the first movie. And, like Empire, the whole movie has an undercurrent of darkness that can get under your skin.
It takes a while to get the story going (they could have probably figured out how to tighten up the first 45 minutes), but it’s unstoppable after that. The action is first rate. The special effects set a new standard, even if they are a bit uneven. The effects people get bonus points for the kraken, though, which looks like what Ray Harryhausen would have done if he had been asked to design the sand pit monster from Return of the Jedi.
The acting is good too. Pirates brings back most of the supporting players, including some real surprises. Bill Nighy, as Jones, is very impressive, given that the look of his character is entirely computer-generated. Depp gives Jack everything he’s got, doing some great physical comedy (it’s fun just to watch Jack run away).
But the serious tones underlying the story began to tear at the Jack character, which eventually dampens the movie. Without giving plot away, the movie wants Jack to stay a comical scoundrel, but also redeem him. Think of the character development of Han Solo without the smirk. But the movie veers on this issue wildly. For all his funniness, Jack does some very selfish, despicable things in this movie. But when we see Jack act upon a possible redemption, we cheer because we love Jack, but his actions are so out of character, especially in the last twenty minutes or so, that the movie almost falls apart.
It will be interesting to see where the movie’s makers go with all this for the third movie (coming next summer). Storywise, they go out with a truly great setup. But a redeemed Han Solo was really not much fun in Return of the Jedi and I’m not sure a redeemed Jack in the third Pirates will be either.
Andrew Wells can be reached at arwell012002@yahoo.com.
Also of interest: Official Disney website for the Pirates trilogy
Lucas can say all he wants about envisioning six or nine movies in his saga, but he probably thought he’d never get past Star Wars. But when he did, Lucas felt like he had to make a more “serious” film, and a “darker” one. The article argues that much of his research for Apocalypse factored into the themes of The Empire Strikes Back: fathers and sons, finding your true nature, and so on.
Apparently the same approach is used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (hereafter referred to as Pirates, because it’s too long to keep typing). The first Pirates has its share of emotion (Barbosa’s soliloquy about his plight is saddening), but it is really just a popcorn movie with lots of action, scares and comedy.
Not this time around. We get some impressive action, including an exciting “Mexican standoff” version of a swordfight, some good scares and some comedy. But we also get serious themes about “What do you truly want?” and “Will you make the right choices at the right time?” It’s not quite sitting through a lecture, but after awhile it drags down the movie. And there is a lot of “dark”—physically and thematically.
Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley) have their wedding day ruined when they are arrested by Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), a representative of the East India Trading Company, for helping Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) escape from the noose. Beckett offers Will a deal: find Jack Sparrow, bring back Jack’s “broken” compass to be set free. Having no choice, Will agrees. Eventually, Elizabeth sets out on to find Will. Meanwhile, Jack is doing everything he can to hide from Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), because Jack owes him a very serious debt. So everybody travels their own paths, just like in Empire. And everybody has to confront some darkness in others and themselves, like in Empire. And the movie ends on a sort-of cliffhanger, with a lot of loose ends, like in Empire. Think of Yoda as a voodoo priestess, and you’ve got the idea.
Remember what I said about dark? Believe it. This has got to be the darkest movie Disney has ever given its logo, and is definitely NOT for children in any way. There are some gruesome images (including a man having his eye plucked out, a beating heart, any sight of Davy Jones and his crew) that probably should have gotten the movie an R. There’s also a lot of sexual innuendo—far more than in the first movie. And, like Empire, the whole movie has an undercurrent of darkness that can get under your skin.
It takes a while to get the story going (they could have probably figured out how to tighten up the first 45 minutes), but it’s unstoppable after that. The action is first rate. The special effects set a new standard, even if they are a bit uneven. The effects people get bonus points for the kraken, though, which looks like what Ray Harryhausen would have done if he had been asked to design the sand pit monster from Return of the Jedi.
The acting is good too. Pirates brings back most of the supporting players, including some real surprises. Bill Nighy, as Jones, is very impressive, given that the look of his character is entirely computer-generated. Depp gives Jack everything he’s got, doing some great physical comedy (it’s fun just to watch Jack run away).
But the serious tones underlying the story began to tear at the Jack character, which eventually dampens the movie. Without giving plot away, the movie wants Jack to stay a comical scoundrel, but also redeem him. Think of the character development of Han Solo without the smirk. But the movie veers on this issue wildly. For all his funniness, Jack does some very selfish, despicable things in this movie. But when we see Jack act upon a possible redemption, we cheer because we love Jack, but his actions are so out of character, especially in the last twenty minutes or so, that the movie almost falls apart.
It will be interesting to see where the movie’s makers go with all this for the third movie (coming next summer). Storywise, they go out with a truly great setup. But a redeemed Han Solo was really not much fun in Return of the Jedi and I’m not sure a redeemed Jack in the third Pirates will be either.
Andrew Wells can be reached at arwell012002@yahoo.com.
Also of interest: Official Disney website for the Pirates trilogy