Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Written by Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Disney
2006
Rating:


No one expected much from 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl." Based on a Disney theme park ride, starring a character actor who was at that point on the cusp of slipping into obscurity and, indeed, cursed with an unwieldy title, "Black Pearl" proved to be one of the most joyful and genuinely fun films of the year. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" is the polar opposite, an entirely mirthless affair and one of the biggest disappointments of 2006. Robert Towne supposedly had to write his script for "Mission: Impossible II" around set pieces preordained by Paramount. "Dead Man's Chest" feels similarly contrived, as if returning writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio were given a mandate to include as much frantic action as possible, preferably involving wheels and vaginal squids, while preventing them from developing a plot or characterizations. That may be giving Elliot and Rossio the benefit of the doubt, but "Dead Man's Chest" feels manufactured rather than born of a genuine adoration of old pirate movies and serials in the same manner as "Curse of the Black Pearl." A thin semblance of story involves Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) being pursued by the East India Trading Company because it wants Jack's magic compass and the octopus-faced Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) attempting to collect a debt Jack owes. Depp's dandified Keith Richards impression remains appealing even as it grows stale, although it's he alone that keeps the brain-melting kineticism of "Dead Man's Chest" from sinking altogether.

Posted Friday, January 5, 2007

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