Pure Genius

JJ Abrams. Joss Whedon. And now Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. All writing GODS.

I just got home from the midnight showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. And the fact that I'm blogging at 3:10 in the morning will tell you what I thought of the movie.

It was amazing. Incredible. Fantastic. It made me think, every fifteen minutes, "how do they come UP with this stuff?"

I promise, only mild spoilers in this post. You MUST go see it, IMMEDIATELY. It will make your whole summer.

Jack is Jack, though a bit more serious, a bit more intense.

Elizabeth has matured a bit. She's as kick-ass as she was in the first one, but fiercer, more confident, more in control. Several of the crew returned, as did the undead monkey (if you plan to rewatch The Curse of the Black Pearl again before you go see Dead Man's Chest and never waited through the credits, make sure you do this time). Even some of the people on Tortuga are back. Norrington is back, and his life and his role are very different than before.

But the whole cake, for me, is Will. Ah, Will. I commented in an earlier post (or comment to the post) that Orlando Bloom is different in his current media appearances. He's got a confidence and maturity he didn't have in his last few sets of media go-rounds, and I thought it might show in his performance. It really does. Some of it, of course, is the writing. Will Turner is a leader. People follow him unquestioningly, and he never hesitates in his expectations that they will. He really sells it.

The story is complex, but unlike with the first one, there's no need for a second viewing to understand what's going on--why they need who and where and how come that happened a certain way. The relationships are complex, too, as Will deals with his discovery of his father, and with...well, I can't say, 'cause it would spoil.

Like the Lord of the Rings movies, there is no final resolution to this one. It leads directly and specifically into At World's End, the third movie, with a big surprise that I should have seen coming before I did. Someone in the audience actually yelled, "holy crap!"

When I left the theater, I had no complaints. No questions or disappointments. I'm sure that will change, after I see it again Tuesday night and my pickier friends start complaining. As I come down off my entertainment high, I've already thought of one question without an answer, though it's something that can be rationalized and in no way detracts from the film.

But right now, this film is without a doubt the movie of the summer. Superman Returns' studio has to be really, really happy they released before Dead Man's Chest did, because there's just no competition. And woe betide anything that comes after. This movie is more than entertainment, more than spectacle.

It's spectacular.