Written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. Directed by Gore Verbinski.
More swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, in the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Once again Johnny Depp steals the show as Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. His swagger and innate onscreen charisma steal ever scene. Ably supported by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley who reprise their roles form the original, it’s more of the same and fans of the original won’t be disappointed. The CGI are truly spectacular, bringing an as yet unseen level of realism and depth to what’s already a big budget spectacular.
However it’s not all gravy, while Bill Nighy does a sterling job of fleshing out the role of Davey Jones, the movie ends up being over long and very much the “second part” of the trilogy. Meaning that as a stand alone movie, it just doesn’t cut it.
There’s a real lack of the heart and soul that was present in the first Pirates film and this leaves the viewer feeling frustrated and slightly bewildered with the many turns and twists piled on top of each other.
However, the set pieces are splendid and even managed to reference a classic scene from Star Wars, which is obviously no bad thing.
It’s always hard being the “difficult second album” and for that, we have to cut the film some credit. So while it’s not as good as the first, it’s in no way a poor effort and with the 3rd part currently being completed, it will be interesting to view this one as part of the whole.
Until then, it’s a good nights entertainment, never quite able to top the first film but well worth a watch non the less.