Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: A Disappointing Experience
The long awaited Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest opened in theaters recently, and people did not avoid it. The movie brought in over 132 million through its first weekend. Although the second Pirates of the Caribbean brought in such a massive amount, that statistic does not support the quality of the movie. Disney took a step backward with this sequel to their last pirate thriller, as many characteristics of the movie are just too childish.
Dead Man’s Chest picks up where the first movie left off. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is captain of a ship, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is in love with Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley), and Governor Swan (Jonathan Pryce) controls an island. Other characters from the first movie eventually make their way into the new story.
The opponents of the main stars of Dead Man’s Chest, are quite similar to the ones from the first movie: one realistic governmental force, and one not-so-realistic pack of ghosts. A high-ranking governmental group from England travels to the Caribbean with the intent of eventually becoming more wealthy and powerful. A group of ghost pirates claim that Jack Sparrow has failed to pay his dues to them. Both forces seek to find and acquire Jack Sparrow.
Dead Man’s Chest lacks a strong plot. The title of the movie notes that there is a dead man’s chest involved, but it takes entirely too long to figure out the importance of the chest. Rather, there are a number of meaningless sub-plots that have no real connection to the main plot, they just eat up time. In turn, there is a movie that a younger audience might find humorous and entertaining, and care not about the lack of coordination between its scenes.
Another negative aspect of Dead Man’s Chest is the behavior designated to the characters. All throughout the movie, the characters make illogical decisions that make the movie absurd. If one were to recall, the first movie ended with Will Turner ready to die in order to save Jack Sparrow. Early in the sequel, Will holds a sword to Mr. Sparrow’s head with a threat to kill him. This threat comes after they both learn of the need to acquire a particular object, but with different intent (a repeating theme). Rather than discussing a way to work out the problem, or even proposing a solution, Will threatens to kill the man that he offered his own life to save not too long before.
Jack Sparrow, who was a sophisticated, intelligent pirate in the first movie, is now an immature fool who is the victim of too many unlikely events. The intelligent remarks that Mr. Sparrow made in the first movie, are now replaced with statements that are just outright absurd. At one point, Jack Sparrow escapes from being roasted over a fire, and he falls, with a wooden poll strapped to his back, and as he lands, a number of vegetables land in a highly unlikely line. Another instance has a water wheel rolling over Mr. Sparrow, and rather than getting crushed, it somehow hits him perfectly to jam the pirate into the wheel. The movie is full of similar events, all of which may be more appealing to a younger audience.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Disney took a step backward as it produced a movie that, at best, caters to children. The movie lacks plot and has a week story line. The characters act immaturely, and too many of the events associated with them are simply unlikely. This movie was a big disappointment and was definitely not what was expected of this latest pirate movie.
