good, bad and ugly "Pirates" review

Since the hottest movie of the summer, at least from the box office, is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest, I thought I might chime in. There seem to be differing opinions for this movie from extremely wonderful to extremely terrible. I will give my $.02, and hopefully not give out any spoilers but no promises.

First thoughts from the theater: there was a trailer prior to the move for a movie about snakes being let loose in an airplane. I know a couple people who are scared stiff by snakes, but just in general- terrible idea. The entire theater, which was full, was laughing by the time it finished- and it was people laughing like Thats the stupidest idea Ive ever heard!! and I commented to the unknown young man next to me I cant believe Samuel L. Jackson is in that movie, which, consequently, would be the only reason to see it. Because he doesnt do much crap- bad movies with him in that come to mind are only Star Wars Episodes I & II, and he probably did those because theyre Star Wars for crying out loud.

Ok, on to the movie. In general, there were some really good parts, some parts that made me roll my eyes, and some ugly parts. So in that spirit, I do a The good, the bad and the ugly review.

The Good: somewhat recycled music. I absolutely love the music in the first one. It is quite possibly one of the best movie scores of the past 15 years of movies, and I would venture to say the best non-John Williams score of that time period. They used the same basic theme from the last one, and at times, it even sounded like it was the same music, just refit for a new scene. This may confuse me in the future as I listen to just the music.

Another good- some great sword fighting scenes- one with an especially interesting plot twist. Either there are some really close looking stunt guys, or Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom have been really well trained with the swords, although we already knew that about Depp and Bloom from the first Pirates movie.

There were also some comical moments alluding to the first movie. The first moment which stood out to me was when the Governor was standing in the dungeon hallway with Bloom and he put his hand on an iron candle arm extending from the wall and it broke off and he had no idea what to do with it. The best allusion from the first movie, however, was when we find that Depp has been made the chief of a tribe. Its so funny because the first movie has this strange line that seems to make no sense whatsoever as Depp is talking to the two British navy-men while Kiera Knightley falls- And then they made me their chief.

The bad: Just as some of the moments that alluded to the first movie were amusing, some of them were really not. The one in particular that I felt the movie could do without was the two bumbling pirates from the Black Pearl, one with the wooden eye and his friend. They were amusing, but their antics did not provide the comic relief that they were intended to do.

This movie was a bit darker than the first one. I know, hard to get darker from cursed pirates who turn into skeletons in the moonlight. It, did however, feel darker. Some of the scenes were a little more tense, but not in a good way.

The plot- it just didnt seem as intriguing this time. There were parts when I was really drawn into the movie, but they were fewer and father between. Sometimes it felt thin. By the time Depp finally admits something about his compass, which is a focal point, I (and Id assume the whole audience) had already figured it out.

The ugly: Without a doubt, Davey Jones. He himself and all of the people who were under his curse, were becoming more and more like the sea. Jones had squid tentacles for his face, other guys had barnacles, star fish and other hardened creates that their faces and bodies were becoming. It was no more or less disturbing or disgusting than the skeletal creatures in the first movie. There was one part with a guy whose head was inside of a seashell. His head got knocked off and he eventually just had to have a crab come out of the shell to move his head around.

The sight of Depp with six eyes painted on his cheeks and another pair painted on his eyelids.

NOT Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley. They were beautiful people, just the way they are and hardly needed any make-up to look the part of pirates! Probably still a big drawing point for this movie.

Final thoughts: Depp made the first movie with his staggering around, being a pirate who is somewhat crazy and seemingly always drunk. He continued that role well, but it was not as much the movie maker. There were multiple plot twists, some expected and some unexpected. The end of the movie was, from my point of view, quite predictable. Even the final scene before the credits rolled. However, after sleeping on it and thinking about it, I would give this movie a high B or a low B+. Not the greatest movie, but certainly not without its good parts.