Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me

With the summer blockbuster season continuing apace, i've been making a few trips to the cinema in the last couple of months - Ice Age 2, The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3 and so on. Last week it was Superman Returns (very good indeed - i liked a lot) and this week it was the turn of....as you've probably guessed, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - aka Dead Man's Chest. Having seen the first film when on holiday in Ireland, and absolutely loved it, I was very much looking forward to seeing this - particularly as the trailer promised much. Thus, I duly arranged with a few workmates to book tickets (a good job we did as lots of showings were sold out - it's heading to break box office records) and off we went. Could this defy the rule that sequels are usually inferior to the original?

Alas, it was not to be. Whilst I did enjoy the film overall, there was just something missing. There were good points - the multi-thread plot means that a lot of characters are following their own agenda and makes for interesting viewing. The tone is also considerably darker - not always a bad thing. There are some good action set pieces - most notably a three way swordfight. But then on the other hand, there are annoyance galore - Keira Knightley goes a bit OTT on the acting at some points, the pace often slows down to a near grinding halt at times, the villain (Davy Jones) is well done but just lacks the presence of Captain Barbosa from the first film, and there is just no sense of fun about it all. The effects are very spectacular indeed - but good effects do not make a good film. One thing that offers a glimmer of hope is the ending - something that comes nicely out of left field. With the knowledge that the second and third films are being shot simultaneously (with a bit more work to go on '3'), one suspects that this is just one elaborate story - with this one doing all the 'moving the pieces around the board' to set up the next one. Let's just hope the next one can regain its sense of fun.