I Discuss Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

I revisited this a few days ago, and it's still totally meh for me overall: 

Way back in early 2017 I revisited the original Pirates of the Caribbean film; I never got around to giving the sequels another shot (or in the case of the 5th, see it for the first time) as they all paled in comparison to the OG product... and having to experience an awful almost 3 hour disaster is something I really don't want to do but I'll struggle through At World's End; at least it should lead to a colorful review, if a little hostile.

This movie is still as disappointing as the first time, way back in the summer of '06 theatrically. The biggest problem: it is a two and a half hour movie which felt like it was at least three and a half. Adjacent to that: bloat. Entire scenes should have been cut out, along with some of the subplots. This being streamlined would have been much better than the mess we got here. Captain Jack Sparrow started to turn into a caricature and that was a shame as in the first movie they unexpectedly struck gold with that wacky over the top character; after that it turned into something not as charming as they went in the wrong directions with him. The humor is also hit or miss... it can be argued if there needed to be so much of it, which is

I wish there wouldn't have been needless plot threads (such as Elizabeth Swan and Jack suddenly having the hots for each other?!) and the tone wildly swinging back and forth like a pendulum and a villain who is aggravating in all the worst ways -Beckett, not Davy Jones; IIRC, Beckett was FAR worse in At World's End-as the general idea seems fine concerning the titular Dead Man's Chest and why various people are interested in it and/or Sparrow, not to mention the irony of who Will's dad is. That all should have been fine, along with the development of the relationship between Will and Elizabeth.

There are reasons why I can say this is at least average. The cast does try their best, first off. Considering how much this cost, it'd be a real problem if it did not look great or the effects were dodgy... thankfully I had little issue visually with the finished product. The fact that Hans Zimmer contributed another quality score was a benefit, but the asset that kept me invested was... the action beats are still thrilling today & they do provide plenty of entertainment. That is why it is especially disheartening that the plot was so convoluted, and needlessly so. I am not saying that blockbuster movies should be incredibly simplistic, yet the plot here was like a tangled mess of wires, only to get even more knotted up w/ At World's End. One day I'll stop procrastinating and endure the next movie for review.