[Nightwish]

Okay, here's my review:









**** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ****














I don't think they did the cliff-hanger too badly. It whets the appetite for part 3, but it doesn't leave a bunch of unanswered questions (i.e. we know what happened to Jack, we know what happened to the contents of the chest, and we know which delightful scoundrel is going to help them save the day in part 3 - everyone in the audience cheered and applauded when they saw who it was walking down the stairs in that final scene).

Humor: The humor was done a bit differently than in the first one. In many ways it was just as funny, but the humor was spread out a lot more. In the first one, about 70% of the comedy was provided by Johnny Depp and his ad-lib quipping, 20% by Captain Barbossa, and the rest by small quips here and there from the other pirates, and from action comedy. Jack still has the lion's share of comedy in this one, but the other characters, especially Norrington and Elizebeth, step up and get a bigger share than previously. Will (Orlando Bloom) is still pretty straightforward, though. And there is a lot more slapstick action comedy than in the first one, especially in the cannibal island scene.

Romance: The romance between Will and Elizabeth is put on hold, and a monkey wrench is thrown in when Will witnesses Elizabeth and Jack toward the end. However, I think he mistook what he saw. I don't think Elizabeth was deeply interested in Jack. I think it was a combination of two things -- 1) answering Jack's challenge to taste what the other side is like, and 2) it was a goodbye kiss, because she knew she was consigning Jack to death. I'm sure part 3 will resolve that question.

Action: There is a lot of decent action in this one, probably a little bit more than in the first one. I saw a thing on the Disney Channel about the choreography of the 3-way fight scene between Norrington, Will and Jack on the water wheel. They actually did do that, the wheel wasn't just added in with cgi later (though much of the background was), and it wasn't stunt people, it was the real actors, according to that interview, so that impressed me a lot. I'm torn on the action with the kracken. On the one hand, it was extremely chaotic, and that's how it actually would be if such a creature existed and attacked in that manner. On the other hand, when it was attacking the Black Pearl, I kept thinking, damn, when is this going to end and how can there still be anything left of that ship?

The compass: At first I thought the whole compass thing was a little silly, until I realized what it was actually about. It's actually sort of a metaphor, it's part of what gives Jack a sense of moral direction. It's his "moral compass," so to speak.

All in all, I give this one two thumbs up. I don't know if I like it better than the first one, or just equal, but it is definitely worth the ticket price, and I can't wait for the third one!