Sunday, July 23, 2006

Caught "Dead Man's Chest," a sugar rush of wild, frenetic, high energy action from beginning to end. This second installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise is a fusion of the old sea myths of the Flying Dutchman, the Kracken, and the maritime euphemism of "going to Davy Jones' locker."

DMC seems fixated with the idea of balancing honour and integrity against selfish betrayal of friends, family and loved ones. Turner and son are deadset on doing the best they can to watch each other's backs, while pretty much everyone else has his or her own agenda to run. And while Elizabeth Swann realizes her heart's desire lies between her white knight in shining armour and her bad-boy pirate captain in heavy eye make-up, the boys seem intent on chasing this movie's featured treasure for reasons other than to get the girl.

Resolution? What resolution? DMC is, after all, part 2 of a trilogy. Like "Empire Strikes Back," DMC ends in a cliffhanger and a promise of more swashbuckling high-jinks on the high seas to come.

Oh, and a tip from NBS: there is a final scene at the end of the credit roll. Did you see it?

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