Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean II

Thumbs up!

It really is that good.  I didn't expect much from it.  It's a movie based on a ride at a theme park, it's Disney, it's a sequel, and it's been way too overhyped.  But when I lower my expectations, I'm usually pleased (usually).  In this case, I was impressed!

First off, the script is very good.  Really.  It incorporates a ton of traditional pirate lore, include Davy Jones, the Flying Dutchman, and the Kraken.  Of course, it does the typical Disney spin on all these legends: "Let's just take the basic idea and completely reinvent it!"  Still, it was fun to see.  Also, the plot is interesting and compelling, the characters are sympathetic and relatively well-developed, and the dialogue is sharp and clever.

Moreover, the directing is excellent.  The movie was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and the actual director was someone I'd never heard of before.  When you have a big-name producer, you always suspect that he basically took over the job of directing (just like when you have a big-name director, you always suspect that he took over the job of producing).  Anyway, I was very impressed.  The directing was artistic and beautiful, the cinematography was gorgeous, use of light and color was wonderful, you got a real sense of place, and there were some very creative camera angles.  My favorite example: there's a fight scene on a giant wheel, and the camera rotates along with the wheel.  It reminded me of Kubrick.

The acting was also excellent.  Johny Depp was actually the weakest actor, to be honest; his portrayal of Jack Sparrow didn't seem as crisp as it had in the original.  The supporting actors, actually, did a fantastic job and had some excellent lines, both comedic and dramatic.  Kierra Knightley gets a much bigger role in this movie, including sword fights and seduction (in a very unexpected way).
In the end, it's classic Disney.  They knew they could have put out a mediocre movie and it would still have made a lot of money.  But instead they made an extra effort to produce something that is really artistic and fun.  And as Yelena pointed out, I've never seen this many adults go to a Disney movie!