Edinburgh Arts: <i>Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man's chest</i>

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man's chest

An opening shot of china teacups in the rain heralded a strangely quiet film, one in which laughs were surprisingly few - with the notable exception of Jack Sparrow's escape from the cannibal island, the funniest parts were those shown in trailers. Considering the high standard raised by The curse of the Black Pearl, it has to be said this was something of a disappointment.

Part of the problem is an unfortunate attack of CGItis, with the many (admittedly spectacular) effects tending to swamp the story rather than complementing it, as they did in the first installment. An already large cast is augmented this time round, meaning the director and screenwriter's nets are spread necessarily wide if the viewer is to keep track of everyone, not to mention their purpose in the plot. Ex-Commodore Norrington's character became a lot more interesting from being cast adrift, but Pintel and Ragetti served little purpose beyond comic relief and if Bootstrap Bill actually serves any purpose, we have yet to see it.

As the first part of two, however, it's only right to give this ongoing story the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps all will be satisfactorily resolved in At World's End but, on the whole, I have to admit my hopes are not high.

(13th July 2006)