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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Counting down toward "World's End" Part TWO

Captain Jack Sparrow back with the Black Pearl, Elizabeth Swann to be wedded to Will Turner, but something is not right, the sky is pouring rain and soldiers storm into the premise of Mr. Turner and had him under arrest.

Following the success of The Curse of the Black Pearl, the sequel Dead Man’s Chest of the Pirates of the Caribbean series opened in 2006.
It became only the third film in history to reach the $1billion mark worldwide.
That alone says a lot about the film.

But personally I found myself lost, just like Captain Jack Sparrow's treasured magical compass.
The compass would not point correctly if the holder does not know what he wants.
The reason being that the plot had thickened so much it no longer was that enjoyable as a straight forward fun and exciting adventure film.
But that is only my point of view.

Viewing the film as it is, Dead Man’s Chest maintained its reputation as one that is filled with stunts, actions, sword fights, stunning CGI and humorous characters.
Much like a theme park ride, which it was rightly inspired from, Pirates of the Caribbean would give its audience a spectacle of a movie worth the ride.



So, coming back to Dead Man’s Chest, Will Turner was arrested, and so was Elizabeth Swann.
They were sentenced to death on charges of conspiring with the pirates.
So too was Commodore Norrington, who has since disappeared from sight.
Lord Cutler Beckett, who leads the East India Trading Company, is now in power.
Sentencing a soon to wed couple is not his real agenda of course, and he wants Will to find Jack Sparrow for he wants the magical compass in the Captain’s possession.

This magical compass holds the key to the biggest prize, the Dead Man’s Chest.
The chest holds Captain Davy Jones’s beating heart.
He who has the heart controls Davy Jones and with that controls all of the sea.
Captain Davy Jones is a monstrous looking ghost pirate with a head that of an octopus.
His ship is the Flying Dutchman and his crew is nothing short of strange and aggressive ocean sprawling characters.
Among them is Will Turner’s father, “Boot-strap” Turner.

The adventure in Dead Man’s Chest is like a whirlpool, with the plot spunning round and round every character.
It is sometimes as confusing as it is spectacular.

Lord Beckett wants Will Turner to find Jack Sparrow in exchange for Elizabeth’s freedom.
Jack Sparrow is seeking a new treasure with his crew, the key to unlock the dead man's chest.
Davy Jones is looking for Jack Sparrow who has a debt to pay.
Jack uses Will to retrieve the key from Davy Jones and Elizabeth to find the chest with the magical compass.
Commodore Norrington wants the beating heart of Davy Jones in exchange for a deal with Lord Beckett.

Do you get the picture?

The characters would go after one another for one reason and another.
From chase after chase, the beating heart of Davy Jones fell to the hands of Lord Beckett through Commodore Norrington.
Jack Sparrow was seen swallowed by the giant monster of an octopus Kraken after being tricked and abandoned onboard a sinking Black Pearl by revengeful Elizabeth Swann.
Dead Man’s Chest ends with the remaining crew of the Black Pearl along with both Will and Elizabeth paying voodoo priestess, Tia Dalma a visit.
In remembrance of Jack Sparrow they all agreed to bring him back from the dead at world’s end.
And to do so they’ll need a captain who knows the waters.

With that you should recall in the closing scene the laughter of a certain Captain Barbossa from the first film, who was thought to be killed.

The next and last of the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was shot back to back with Dead Man’s Chest.
That is mainly the reason why we get to see the swift follow up after last year’s sequel.

What will At World’s End bring to us that is worthy of a fitting end?
We’ll take a look but that will be for another day before the film opens toward the end of this week.