Pirates: Dead Man's Chest
We just saw an afternoon showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Now, PotC: The Black Pearl had pirates, zombies, and a monkey. What could be better?
Pirates, sea-zombies, an undead monkey, and an illithid Davy Jones, that's what. And Naomie Harris as the best voodoo witch-queen I've ever seen.
The script was full, nuanced, satisfying, and incredibly funny. The characters had proper motivations and acted in accordance with them, there was no unnecessary melodrama, and generally speaking, there was nothing to come between me and enjoying a really excellent film. Russell Davies could learn a lot from this. I'm not bitter.
The sets, and costuming and makeup were really, really good. Turner pére's collection of mussels and his starfish were great, and the varying stages of decay and marination of the other crewmen were worth the price of admission all on their own. The illithid Davy Jones (and aren't illithid popular this year?) was magnificent. And Tia Dalma was, well, utterly fantastic.
The action sequences - which, really, are what make the film - were the best ones I've seen yet. Swordfights atop a mill wheel! Rum-and-gunpowder explosions versus the Kraken! Etymological discussion of the word "kraken"! Huge rolling bone cages! Cannibals!
And I was very glad to see Barbossa back again, because he was just great.
The PCs in one of my current campaigns are currently in a pirate area; I think after that they can expect to stay there a while longer.
Posted by Drew Shiel at July 9, 2006 6:07 PM
