15 Men...

Let me get this out of the way real quick. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest this weekend, and quite frankly, it was a bit underwhelming. I rather dont like those cheap attempts at making pple interested in sequels.

...Spoilers begin here so if u havent watched it, look away...

First off, let me start with what was right about the movie.

1. Davey Jones & The Crew of the Flying Dutchman. Remember the wonder u felt the first time u realised what Barbosa's cursed crew became when they stepped into the moonlight? Well, i took a quick look round in the cinema when this badass made an appearance - the magic was still there.

2. It was bigger. Bigger is always better. When in doubt, go big. From the special effects to Elizabeth's betrayal to the number of meaningless deaths which were there to glorify the menace that was...

3. The Kraken. This beast in itself deserves special mention. The summoning of the Kraken, Captain Sparrow's bane was always a welcome event. That and ...

4. The creative sword fights. These were interesting. Reminiscent of Jackie Chan shenanegans. The fight for the Locker Key & 2-sword-3-man fight against Davey Jones crew come to mind immediately.

5. The humor stayed intact. This in itself, is self explanatory. Jack was as hilariously tipsy as ever... or is that tipsily hilarious. All the other jokes didnt fall flat either.

You'd think that all the above makes an excellent movie. well, not quite

Maybe somewhere down the line, i forgot what Pirates of the Caribbean was about. Maybe i never even got it in the first place. I always thought it was abt the return of the swash-buckler movie. Adventure on the high seas, meaningless fun and idiotic Jack Sparrow, who is, at heart, a good man. Well problem numero uno

1. Inconsistency. I felt as if there was a sort of, lack of consitency of character. Jack was actually willing to let Will Turner suffer an eternity of service with the crew of Davy Jones & keep Elizabeth for himself. He & his crew were also willing to sacrifice 100 poor souls for his one life to Davey Jones. This doesnt make sense. Jack is supposed to be a good man - and i'd think,... more loyal to Will.

2. Elizabeth's Betrayal. Maybe it was used as a plot device but this just plain sucked, literally. Sucked the fun out of the movie. She betrayed both Jack & William at the same time, when she smooshied Sparrow(hehe), chained him to the mast and left him to die. Also, her quick turnaround & remorse for what she had done was also weird

3. Deaths. I was rather alarmed at the number of people who got fed to The Kraken. I'd count close to 150 (Jack's worth 100), but really i don't think all of it was worth it. Part 1 got away with just one death, Barbosa's (... i know, i know - he didn't really die) I'd particularly warmed up to the crew of the ship that fell prey to "Elizabeth's Ghost" only to see Davey Jones' boys chop them down.

4. Inconclusive & annoying ending. Self-explanatory. I dislike being set-up to look forward to a sequel to any movie. All along, Jack is searching for the Dead Man's Chest (more importantly, its contents). For crying out loud, its even in the title, but nooo.... we never see it get used even once. Fine everyone fights abt it but comeon! Oh, & Jack dies, then someone's gonna pull some occult crap to get him back from the Underworld (read World's End)- grrrr

In short, this movie sorta reminded me of Matrix Reloaded. Morpheus and his followers spend the whole episode adhering to a prophecy, that is supposed to be fulfilled when the One enters the door - only it turns out, the Prophecy was a tool of control & they have nothing - yeah - stupid Davey Jones' heart. Oh, & i really liked Matrix Reloaded.

However The Matrix trilogy had one up on this one. IT WAS MEANT TO BE A TRILOGY IN THE FIRST PLACE. This one will only be one cuz of the money its pulled in...

In short(...again), i liked it, but it could've been better. Kudos to the first one.

[Update] The trailer for The Last King of Scotland is up at Apple.com. check it out here