by Moe Zilla

Created on: January 26, 2008

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were great, fun epics, and the first two movies were especially enjoyable. So which one was better? I'd have to say it was the first movie, "The Curse of the Black Pearl."

Part of that fun was the excitement of discovering new characters and their world. There's ships, oceans, islands, and treasure, and it's in "Curse of the Black Pearl" that Jack Sparrow first proves his reckless daring, in a fast escape scene that leads to a sword fight with blacksmith Will Turner. (Roger Ebert said of Johnny Depp's performance that "There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie...") But then the film surprises the audience by showing the amazing skeleton crew of the Black Pearl, building up to an exciting sword fight under the moonlight with an army of skeletons. As Elizabeth, Keira Knightley represents the non-pirate world, which gives the movie an interesting tension. She parley's with the Black Pearl's crew, only to become their prisoner. The later films lose some of that tension as Elizabeth forms deeper ties to the pirates.

The second film, "Dead Man's Chest," is also a magnificent movie. It's main problem is that the original film was never meant to have a sequel. The second installment finds the writers struggling to invent reasons to re-unite their characters. Its opening shot was beautiful - an abandoned wedding banquet that's been interrupted by the arrest of Will Turner. But then there's a series of strained plot devices - Turner will be freed if he can find Jack Sparrow and capture his compass, but Jack Sparrow needs the key to the locker with the heart of Davy Jones. But meanwhile Elizabeth wrests a letter exonerating Will from the British Lord Beckett...it's a lot to keep track of!

Instead of skeletons, "Dead Man's Chest" offers the cursed crew of the Flying Dutchman, each with an incredible sea-creature face, and led by captain Davy Jones. And it's hard not to feel dread when the giant tentacles of the Kraken rise from the sea to drag ships (and sailors) to their deaths in the ocean. This movie also introduces a strange new character named Tia, the mysterious voodoo priestess who'd given Jack his magical compass. She's interesting, though her character seems like a strange twist for a pirate movie. It's not until the third movie that the films explain her deeper connection to Davy Jones. Maybe the producers were trying to induce audiences to watch these movies more than once.

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