More Pirates this Summer

I got a chance to see “The Pirates of the Caribbean 2” a couple of weeks ago.

Though I was too lazy to do a blog on it until now. My fault, really. Figures it’ll take me a while to get my thoughts worked out.

It’s not a bad movie. Actually I enjoyed it very much.

Though it does feel like a vehicle movie for actor Johnny Depp to sink his teeth in. He does hit it on the head once again with his portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Nothing too glamorous. You have to remember that pirates aren’t very friendly people. They’re ugly, thieving rapists pillaging the rummages of the seas. Hell, they probably smell like a cheap rug too.

There are plenty of good moments I do like. Especially the bit with Sparrow getting out of prison by use of a coffin in the waters. Then his shooting the bird on top of that as he tried to get out of his confined space. Row, row, row, Johnny Depp.

There’s another bit I liked where the old Black Pearl Crew were prisoners on the native island… and they’re trapped in the ball hanging from a fierce height. It takes ingenuity and wits to find a way out of it. I always did admire that in people: avoiding the use of violence to find a way out of a tight spot.

Orlando Bloom can be a good actor as you can see here. But the film really belongs to Depp. There’s no mistaking it. The reason why I liked the first film because there was a good cast ensemble. There were different interesting characters so the story can split up into different, threading plotlines. Here, the second film does rely heavily on Depp’s performance. It needs to include the other actors as well.

However, the visual realization of the creature from beneath the abyss, from below the depths of the waters, was very well conceived by the filmmakers. Its mammoth, hateful looking eye and the flapping tentacles as it reached its way out of the darkness is a direct influence from H.P. Lovecraft’s work.

In fact, the old Providence scribe did hate seafood… he detested it so much that many of his works were strange hybrids from the sea. You can see for yourself in his story “Shadow Over Innsmouth.” The creature in the Pirates movie stems from a collective fear of the unknown… the Kraken, in all its horrible glory, very nearly overshadowed the film itself, pulling helpless ships into destruction with one fallen swoop.

People do have a fascination for pirates. These pirates during the times were an ugly creed… looking for their bounty, their filthy lifestyles leading to the habits of stealing and killing for nameless treasures. This is perhaps why the Pirates films do very well at the box office. There’s still an interest for it. Even the Pirates museum in Oshkosh not too long ago did very well with audiences. People have a great affinity for the ugly.

You have to invest a lot in this film. Because you learn that there’s a cliffhanger at the end. You’ll have to wait for another year before the third, and probably final, film comes out to round off the trilogy. If you don’t mind the wait, then you’ll enjoy the second installment.

Then comes the bad bits. It’s not a perfect film. You wonder why Capt. Jack Sparrow is made a god on the natives’ island. You have to wonder what the British government wants with Davy Jones’ heart. Why is that? There are a lot of questions still needing answered. Perhaps that is what the third film is for.

So far I do like the film series. I wouldn’t mind holding out for the next one. If they can make a film that delivers. There’s too much room for disappointment. But then again, I could be wrong. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!