July 16, 2006

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 - zombie epic!


Yes, yes, it's overlong and hasn't got the non-stop pacing of the first film, but Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest still has much to offer. I hadn't read any reviews, just to avoid spoilers, but I've heard a lot of negative stuff. If you're a fan of dark fantasy adventure comedies, you're in for a treat.

Most of the characters are undead, the crew of the Flying Dutchman are also spectacularly mixed-up with underseas creatures, (like if Jeff Goldblum had accidentally taken an aquarium into his matter-transporter). There's hammerhead shark-man, hermit crab-man and best of all octopus-faced Bill Nighy. I wandered why I was seeing his photo everywhere (like the one above) - to understand it better you have to see it move. That's when the make-up becomes spectacular - a living beard made up of tentacles. I'm guessing it's an effect that uses physical prosthetic appliances, keeping the effects computer-aided, rather than computer-reliant.

Indeed, it's been a long time since I've been in a cinema and not thought "computer-generated". Despite the fact that there's impossible stunts and the best giant sea-monster ever, it never looks fakey - just spectacular.

I won't give a full review - there's plenty of them out there. I'll just say that I thought it was impressive, with an intricately funny script and a stream of original action scenes. Oh yes, and an almost totally British cast. Arrr!

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