Monday, July 31, 2006

Dead Man’s Chest: Funnier than Curse of the Black Pearl

It took us a few weeks since the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest to make it to the theatre. I had dragged my feet a little because I heard it wasn’t as good as the first Pirates, but I knew that seeing it on the big screen was a must-do. I was pleasantly surprised to find the rumors incorrect, as far as my own criteria for enjoyment were concerned. It wasn’t the first Pirates and therefore it couldn’t have the element of surprise and delight one experiences upon meeting a “family” of strong characters and their excellent acting for the first time. But the performances were equally strong and the characters just as delightful as in the first movie, and the humor was even better. Several characters whose voice roles were as important as their physical role if not more so were especially notable, including Bill Nighy as Davy Jones and Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma. Pirate Ragetti, played by Mackenzie Crook, was hysterically funny with his unexpected intellectual pronouncements since we had seen him as mostly evil as well as incompetent and illiterate in the first movie.


Mackenzie Crook as Ragetti (photo courtesy of IMDb)

Jack Davenport was memorable as the down-trodden Norrington (and looked so much better without his powdered wig!).


Jack Davenport as Norrington (photo courtesy of IMDb)

He reminded me a great deal of Alan Rickman – must be the voice as well as the demeanor. The fight scenes took on a distinctly Jackie Chan-like flavor with their skill, finesse, great choreography and humor, much more so than in Movie One (where they were nevertheless entirely satisfactory!).

More than this I will not say. Go see it and enjoy.

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