Week Of June 26, 2006 - Mon / Wed / Fri

June 26, 2006

Like Superman Returns, Pirates 2 is too long by about 30 minutes. And the script tends to bog down every time the story gets a bit complex for its own good.

Oh yes… And Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is easily the best studio confection of the year ... kicking ass, taking names, and reminding us all of the joy that going to a big summer movie is supposed to inspire in us.

The sweet gruel is thick here, so I am a little at a loss at where to begin with non-spoiler details. (There are some spoilers out there - not like the Superman Returns spoilers that are pretty obvious from the word "go," so be careful as you read about the film... including perusing IMDb) I guess the place to start is by saying that I was surprised that this is, essentially, a Middle Movie. There were indications of this as the film went along, but I wasn't sure whether it would be a standalone story until pretty close to the end.

(You will also want to stay in your seat until after the credits. Hans Zimmer makes it easier than it often is by keeping the music rousing through pretty much all the credits, much to my amazement. It still isn't as great as Michael Giacchino's The Incredibles credit music, but pretty great.)

Still, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio do a nice job of making this movie stand on its own, reflecting the original and whetting the appetite for the third of the series with a cliffhanger that has none of the suspense of The Empire Strikes Back, but all of the fun that sends you out of the theater smiling, laughing, and applauding.

And if you think POTC: Episode 3 is going to be the end, you would be mistaken. It might be a decade between films, but after these two films - which are quite expensive… almost as expensive as The MEFE - generate more than $1.5 billion worldwide between them, it will be too much for anyone to resist. The original was Jerry Bruckheimer's biggest hit by literally hundreds of millions of dollars. And, unlike Lucas and Spielberg, Jerry has a producer's soul and will not get distracted by alternate aesthetic interests. Depp and Verbinski will surely need a few years distance to re-up after spending the last two years plus on this two-shot-together project. But wait… it will come. (And Disney will give Depp two movies of his absolute choice and taste for every future Pirates film he makes… aesthetic freedom and scores of millions… too tempting.)

The simple version of the story is that Captain Jack owes Davy Jones his soul, but Jack has an idea of how to keep it. Young lovers Will Turner & Elizabeth Swann get involved again because of a fiendish bureaucrat that wants something from Jack as well. And then, we're off to the races.

Davy Jones and his crew spend a lot of time underwater, unlike the pirates from the first film who rode the high seas and showed their true selves in the moonlight. So, accordingly, they have suffered the undying indignities of an underwater life… from things as basic as barnacles to the squid that has overtaken Davy Jones head. This particular effect is as intimate and as unflinchingly real as any effect ever put on screen… literally seamless. This is work on the level of Kong in King Kong last year. Like Kong, the brilliance of the work here is the expressiveness. Even the great moment you've surely seen in advertising of Jones playing the organ with an assist from his most intimate mollusk pales a bit from such "simple" (they make 'em look simple) moments as looking Davy Jones square in the face as he thinks, snorts, and speaks.

No small part of the success of Davy Jones was the choice to hire the inimitable Bill Nighy to play the role. Nighy affects a brogue which took me a while to get used to and will have senior citizens praying for subtitles, but (correction: 6/26, 11:02p) both Nighy's eyes and his facial ticks have been recreated perfectly by the ILM magicians as they might exist if covered in squid, are a movie lover's joy. Really... look in those eyes and I dare you to think they are animated and not real!

And Nighy was not the only terrific hire by Bruckheimer, Verbinski and casting directors Denise Chamian & Priscilla John (who replace Ronna Kress, who fell off the Bruckheimer wagon after King Arthur). They also added Stellan Skarsgard and 28 Days Later's Naomie Harris, who are both terrific here.

But what people will show up for and keep showing up for through August are the massive action set pieces, one after the other after the other. We have undead pirates, living soldiers, cannibals, round cages made of (sorry... it's a spoiler) hanging over 200 feet deep ravines, sword fights on mill wheels, the requisite cannon balls, lots of fire, even more water, breathy chases, narrow escapes, wenches, witches, romance, and of course, The Kraken.

Speaking of The Kraken, one of the lovely things about this movie is how it really harkens back to Classic Disney while moving forward about as far as effects technology has ever taken us. The Kraken is right out of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea… except that it seems completely believable, even in broad daylight. And even then, as with most of the effects, you get the feeling tickling the back of your intellect (which you have put on hold in favor of your heart for most of the film) that they could have made it bigger, louder, more… but chose not to go there. The density of the CG work in this movie is astounding, but probably will be even more so as I return to re-examine it. So much of the work is background or subtle while some major effect takes center stage. Really, the guy with the hammerhead shark head is remarkable all by himself… and yet, he is almost always in a secondary position to Davy Jones or some new crew member that distracts you from this cool creation. Hammerhead is a terrific addition, yet the film doesn't hit you over the head with it (literally or figuratively). And that is one of the reasons why this will be a great repeat-viewing movie.

But as I rave and rave and rave, I will say again… it's too long and it gets too confusing, as the original did. But by the time we roll through the third act, the lull moments are a distant memory. Dead Man's Chest is far from a perfect movie. But it has the key element missing from Mission: Impossible 3 and Poseidon and, yes, Superman Returns. It is relentlessly joyful. No one in this movie takes themselves as seriously as the key characters from those three summer wannabe joyrides. And people will overlook a lot in the name of joy.

Fortunately, there is not that much to overlook in Dead Man's Chest. The starched stiff of the original film, Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport) is no longer the walking movie dead spot (no pun intended), replaced by the even stiffer Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander). There is a bit too much tap dancing around the McGuffin. And perhaps in testament to the uproar around Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom, there is a little too much sidetracking of the contents of Davy Jones locker.

There is, especially in the first act, a lot to freak out little kids. The standard you can use is pretty basic. If they were old enough to get through the first Pirates with no problem at all, they will be fine here. If they got a little freaked in the first film, they are a little older and should be ok here. If they cry every time the pirates turn into skeletons in the first film, they probably won't be able to handle this one. But like the best of Spielberg (which this is one small step behind), this film really speaks to children of all ages. If your inner child died in a mine shaft disaster a few years back, you are part of the small group that won't enjoy this movie.

No, Pirates 2 will never be as fresh as Pirates 1. That first film was expected to be a complete disaster in the mold of Kangaroo Jack and Treasure Planet and the worm started turning just six weeks out and then it turned out not only to be good, but a wonderful film, centered on a legendary performance by Johnny Depp. That kind of turnaround is a thrill all its own.

Here, we have Depp pushing the envelope a little further. Rossio & Elliott do a nice job unsettling our assumptions about Captain Jack without losing us (see: Matrix Revolutions for many audiences). We have new elements for both Turner & Swann. Smart choices are made about where to take familiar characters (though for me, Ragetti & Pintel are less fun now that we know them… they don't have R2D2 and C-3PO's staying power).

The difference between this and, say, Star Wars, is that there is not the big picture driving the emotional weight of the middle movie. The world is not about to fall to the evil empire. The lives and happiness of our heroes is really what drives these films and it isn't as powerful.

But sitting back in that theater, watching some old friends going through the paces, louder, faster, and funnier, is an unmitigated pleasure. I can't wait to see this one again and next summer, to finish this particular thread with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. There are story turns hinted at, some of which are hard to imagine happening and others that would be so delicious that kids (old & young) would return their candy to the snack bar, utterly overstuffed with giddiness. But we'll see whether 3 takes us that one step further.

Meanwhile, Pirates 2 turns the sluggish summer on its head and makes me optimistic about enjoying summer movies - well, some summer movies - again.

E Me:

---

Week Of April 3, 2006 - Life In the Bubble - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 10, 2006 - List Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 17, 2006 - Review Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 24, 2006 - Overlooked Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 1, 2006 - Mystery Week - Tue / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 8, 2006 - How We Watch Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 15, 2006 - Premature Week - Oscar Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 22, 2006 - B-13 Mon / Inconvenient Wed / Fri
Week Of May 29, 2006 - Wed / Fri
Week Of June 5, 2006 - 666 Tue / Iraq Doc Wed / Seattle Fri
Week Of June 12, 2006 - SIFF Mon / SIFF Wed / Fri
Week Of June 19, 2006 - Cinevegas Mon/Deliver Us Wed/Prada Fri