There is a moment in the second Pirates of the Caribbean film (Dead Man's Chest) where three characters, Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and James Norrington, engage in a three-way sword fight aboard a large, moving wheel that crashes through the tropical terrain. All three are after a key and the key opens the titular chest that contains Davy Jones' heart. Jack wants it to settle a debt with Jones, Will wants it to free his father who serves Jones, and Norrington wants it to redeem his career in the British navy. It is a thunderous set piece fueled by the character's self interest and it had me thinking: are there any other blockbusters as original, imaginative and entertaining as the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films?
I watched 2006's Dead Man's Chest and its sequel, At World's End (2007) over two nights and was astonished by the dizzying plots and adventurous filmmaking on display. Widely regarded as inferior to the original, The Curse of the Black Pearl, the two films have far weaker ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes but were gigantic box office successes: Dead Man's Chest became the third film ever to cross the once fabled $1 billion mark, and its sequel came agonisingly close to becoming the fourth. These are films made purely with the audience in mind, and, in watching this two-parter (they were shot back to back) the only blockbuster films that I could think of that had any connection to this series were the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Indiana Jones films.
Pirates of the Caribbean is to the 2000s what Indiana Jones was to the 1980s: a set of three films that revolve around an instantly, almost casually iconic lead character and his adventurous deeds. Whilst Pirates uses the 18th century and the rise of the British navy as its historical backdrop, Indiana Jones uses Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Both trilogies feature exhilarating action, inspired chase sequences with careful choreography, MacGuffins and a sense of mysticism and magic that is connected to the MacGuffins. They both have instantly recognisable scores too.
Dead Man's Chest and At World's End also feel like the Avengers Infinity War and Endgame of their decade too. These two pairs of film were shot back to back, feature extensive and innovative visual effects and were colossal hits. Narratively, the first in each pair is a lean, 2.5 hour action packed extravaganza that interweaves numerous characters and stories all in the search of a mystical object (the chest vs infinity stones). The second film in each pair is longer, but less action packed until their blistering third acts. Part of the story concerns undoing the events that happened previously (Jack's death, the Snap) before tying everything else in a neat bow at the end. Other similarities include a CG villain who is seen crying at one point (Davy Jones and Thanos) and the reveal of a 'captain' at the end of the second film (Barbossa and Captain Marvel). And yet despite the vast narrative structure of Pirates 2-3, they are never given the attention and praise they deserve. Yes, they are similar to the Indiana Jones films, but they are also far more unique: the visual details of the crew of The Flying Dutchman, the more roguish and ambiguous leading three characters, the quirky comedy, the glimpses of surrealism in Davy Jones' locker and the naval mythology that is intuitively brought to life on-screen. The point is, nothing comes close to these films in terms of setting, action, style, humour and narrative ambition. Just examine some of the set-pieces: pirates suspended in a gorge inside a spherical cage made of bones end up rolling it down through the jungle whist their captain pole vaults with a bamboo stick stuck to his back; a gigantic sea monster tries to engulf a ship whilst the others load gunpowder and rum into barrels to be used as an explosive; two ships engage in a broadside battle as they swirl around a maelstrom and their crews swing across to either ship; in order to escape the naval underworld the crew have to capsize their own boat. Is there anything out there close to this wackiness?
There is also a beautiful poetry to these films that I discovered on this re-watch. Jack finishes the trilogy alone in a small dingy, just as how he is introduced. Will is stabbed by the same sword he makes for Norrington in the first film. Barbossa marries Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner after calling her 'Miss Turner' a bunch in the first film. Davy Jones is all octopus except his crab claw, which shows the hold Calypso (crab goddess) still has on him. It is payoffs such as these that lend the films a more intellectual drive then you might initially credit them credit for.
There are also two references to Sergio Leone Westerns in At World's End: Jones' pocket chimes start playing as Calypso's ends like in the final duel in For A Few Dollars More, and the parley sequence in the third act is shot and scored like a Western. Ideas like this just do not make it into the current Disney conveyor-belt of films.
Part of the story sees Jack attempting to undermine / fulfill / escape his debt to Jones. We are told that Davy Jones raised The Black Pearl from the depths and gave Jack 13 years of captaincy in exchange for his soul and a hundred years of servitude aboard the Dutchman. Jones is consistently referred to as depicted as the devil of the seas, and Jack's deal with him is pure Faust, turning the family adventure film into a loose Christopher Marlowe adaptation. Furthermore, it is intriguing that Davy Jones is the only main character who keeps his word. He never lies, cheats or manipulates- he is the devil through sheer power. However, all the other 'non-devil' characters are all lying, cheating and manipulating people. The series totally nails the 'pirates' of the title. It turns criminals escaping the British Empire into freedom fighters that the audiences can rally behind.
The long winded point I am trying to make here is that Dead Man's Chest and At World's End are not to be placed in the same category as the Transformers or Fast and Furious films as 'teenager blockbusters that score big bucks no matter the quality'. There is a genius to these pictures; an ambition to both enthrall and entertain. There are some great character moments (Elizabeth's descent into piracy is paralleled with Jack's rise to heroism) and a clear sense of direction, planting and payoff. And I haven't even spoken about the phenomenal music, still immaculate CGI and the pitch perfect performances from Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Rush and Tom Hollander. These are colourful, majestic and bold blockbusters that bring so much new to the field without looking like they are trying.
