Bee Movie

ANIMATED
United States, 2007
U.S. Release Date: 11/2/07 (wide)
Running Length: 1:25
MPAA Classification: PG
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast (voices): Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson
Directors: Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith
Screenplay: Jerry Seinfeld and Spike Feresten & Barry Marder & Andy Robin
Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams
U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks

The press notes for Bee Movie indicate that Jerry Seinfeld came up with the title before he had an inkling what the story might be. Having seen the film, I can believe that. As befits something from Seinfeld's pen, the screenplay contains a smattering of amusing one-liners, but the plot sputters before dead-ending. It's a little weird and a little subversive, but mostly it's just dull. Moreover, while adults may get something out of Bee Movie, it's hard to understand what it has to offer to kids besides the flashy animation and a couple of video game-inspired sequences. On the whole, this is another disappointing animated effort and it resides considerably lower on the totem pole than this year's current non-live action champion, Ratatouille.

As is the case with many animated movies, this one starts by taking us into a non-human society where all the creatures have taken on human characteristics. This time, it's a bee hive, and some of the parallels are clever. Since bees don't live very long, their entire time in school is nine days (three for grammar school, three for high school, three for college). They never take vacations. And conformity is not merely a desirable characteristic, it's a necessary one. That's too bad for maverick Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), whose insatiable wanderlust leads him out of the hive and into the wild world. On his first foray, he almost gets himself killed but is saved by Vanessa (Renee Zellweger), a human woman who owns a flower shop. She is charmed - not to mention a little startled - by the talking bee, and the two of them strike up a friendship. This liaison leads to complications, however, when Barry accompanies Vanessa to a supermarket and discovers that humans are stealing honey from bees. His solution: file a lawsuit accusing the human race of theft. While this allows for some satirizing of the legal system and results in the best line (a mosquito explaining why he's a lawyer), it's where Bee Movie goes into a tailspin.

The movie tries with limited success to incorporate elements that will keep children (and adults) from becoming restless. Since there's really no action to speak of, the animators trump up a little, such as a car ride in the bee hive that's like a roller coaster. Or a short sequence when Vanessa's friend Ken (Patrick Warburton) tries to do in Barry. There are also no song-and-dance numbers, although the film sneaks in "Here Comes the Sun" and provides Sting with a cameo. Most of the humor is Seinfeld-dry and the storyline isn't the kind of thing that's going to enthrall many viewers, regardless of their age. It's just not interesting enough. It's possible to enjoy the movie's satirical bent without becoming enamored of the project as a whole. Bee Movie also has the requisite big-mouthed sidekick (think "Donkey" from Shrek). In this case it's Chris Rock's mosquito named Mooseblood, but his limited screen presence makes him instantly forgettable.

The animation and voice work fall into the "nothing special" category. The CGI is nice but not the kind of thing that's going to have viewers staring agog at the screen. Ratatouille and even Shrek the Third have offered more impressive visuals this year. The directors both have experience in the field, with Steve Hickner having been in charge of Prince of Egypt and Simon J. Smith having helmed Shrek 4-D (the 12-minute theme ride attraction at Universal Orlando), so everything is technically sound. On the vocal side, Seinfeld is an odd choice for the lead role because his voice is so recognizable. It's impossible to look at Barry and not see Jerry. Better selections are Renee Zellweger and Matthew Broderick (as Barry's bff - bee friend forever) - they successfully submerge themselves into their roles.

The film has a moral of sorts, but it's not the kind of thing with a strong real-life application. It's about the importance of bees in the life cycle of the planet. I suppose if one wanted to stretch things a bit, a point could be extrapolated about climate change and global warming, but I'm not sure that's what Seinfeld and company had in mind. The film also has some unflattering things to say about lawyers and the legal system - all of which seem perfectly reasonable, if a little tame, as far as I can tell.

It's fair to argue that Bee Movie ventures onto a road less taken. Certainly, I can't think of another movie in which a talking insect has dragged the entire human race before a judge whose voice is provided by Oprah Winfrey. Nevertheless, while there's something to be prized about uniqueness in a motion picture, that quality is only an asset when it enhances the overall entertainment value - something not evident here. Bee Movie will generate some box office interest because of Seinfeld's heavy involvement, because it is being relentlessly promoted, and because it is an animated feature starring a cute little bee. But it's hard to imagine the picture generating better than mediocre word of mouth. While it has value as a passable diversion, this is ultimately yet another disappointing animated feature in an every-widening pool of them. At least this time it appears that the cause is an offbeat sensibility rather than the laziness and greed that have characterized so many others.

Blood Diamond

United States, 2006
U.S. Release Date: 12/8/06 (wide)
Running Length: 2:23
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Arnold Vosloo, Ntare Mwine, Caruso Kuypers
Director: Edward Zwick
Screenplay: Charles Leavitt
Cinematography: Eduardo Serra
Music: James Newton Howard
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers

To an extent, Blood Diamond is a victim of its own length. While the film includes a number of disturbing political and sociological insights, the adventure story is tepid and loses momentum as the storyline bogs down. The main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, has an effective arc that is believable because it does not force him to act contrary to his nature, but it takes a long time for Blood Diamond to get us to DiCaprio's moment of recognition. Pacing issues aside, this is a well constructed movie - clearly the product of a director who understands how to make a top-notch motion picture. It looks great and sounds great. If only Edward Zwick's mastery of the medium had extended to pruning the screenplay and editing the final result, Blood Diamond might have been a tremendous film rather than one worthy of only a lukewarm recommendation.

The story takes place in 1999 Sierra Leone, when the country is embroiled in a civil war. In this struggle, it's hard to determine which side is worse: the government or the rebels. As is often the case in this sort of bloodbath, atrocities abound and it's the innocent farmers and villagers caught in between who pay the price. Diamonds, one of the country's largest exportable commodities, are being smuggled out and purchased on the open market despite a supposed international ban on the purchase of so-called "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds." This historical background (which is more complicated as presented in the movie) is accurate, although the three primary characters embroiled in events are fictional.

Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is a loving husband and father who lives a peaceful existence on a farm in an out-of-the-way community in Sierra Leone. He sends his young son, Dia (Caruso Kuypers), to a school to learn English so the boy will grow up to have a better life. One day, terror comes to Solomon's village when the rebels arrive and kill or capture nearly everyone living there. Solomon's family is ripped from him and he is sent to work harvesting diamonds. While sifting through sand from a shallow river bottom, he discovers a 100-karat pink diamond, which he initially hides then later buries. Shortly thereafter, he is captured during a government raid and sent to jail. While there, he encounters South African "soldier of fortune" Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), who makes a deal with Solomon: for the diamond, he will help the man find his wife and children. To achieve this aim, Archer goes for help to American journalist Maddy Brown (Jennifer Connelly), whose price for aid is a tell-all expose from Archer about how "dirty" diamonds are laundered to appear clean to the world market, and how much culpability the London diamond merchants have.

That's a gross oversimplification of what happens during Blood Diamond's first 45 minutes. This is a narratively dense picture that requires constant attention from the audience. As an action/adventure tale, the film has its high points, but there are times when the movie feels like it's spinning its wheels. Director Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai) is no stranger to epic films, but none of his previous features have felt as long as this one.

The film is uncompromising in the way it depicts the Sierra Leone conflict (which is fundamentally similar to the many wars that have recently dotted the African continent). We see the mass slaughter of innocents as both the government and the rebels mow down men, women, and children indiscriminately. We see how the rebels recruit young boys, indoctrinate them through torture and drug use, and turn them into hardened killers. Patriotism is equated with a high body count. There's something disturbing about the sight of a ten-year old boy firing an automatic rifle into a crowd of unarmed, panicked people. Blood Diamond is as effective in depicting the corruption of innocents as it is in showing the harrowing hell of this kind of war. It also highlights the greed and manipulation that characterizes the international diamond market.

Two of the three characters are well developed. Archer has the most complete arc. Thankfully, he never loses his "me first" attitude, but we come to understand how it has developed and we see a gradual softening of some of his morals. It's a solid performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, who has grown into this sort of "gritty" role and is more believable after having been seen dancing on the dark side in The Departed. This is not the same actor who set young female hearts aflutter ten years ago. He has discovered a measure of gravitas.

Unlike Archer, Solomon doesn't have an arc. He's single-minded in his focus: find his wife, two daughters, and son. His passion drives the movie forward; when Blood Diamond has urgency, it's because of him. Djimon Hounsou is volcanic in this role. Less substantive is the part of Maddy Brown, who's in less than half of the movie (she is absent from the final third). Jennifer Connelly does the best she can with the clichéd part of an idealistic journalist, but the writing isn't there and Maddy ends up being largely forgettable - a character necessitated by the plot rather than a living, breathing human being. At least there's the hint of a spark between Connelly and DiCaprio, which keeps things interesting when they're together.

Blood Diamond is a mixed bag - a movie that has its share of stark, unforgettable moments but whose substance never fully gels. Despite the participation of two marquee topping actors and the strength of the director's resume, it's hard to imagine there's much of an audience for a movie fueled more by the politics of African atrocities than the adrenaline and testosterone cocktail that typically characterizes this sort of film. The film's length works against it, but there's enough here to warrant a recommendation, even if it's not the most enthusiastic one I have ever given to a Zwick production.

Ghost Rider

ACTION/ADVENTURE
United States, 2007
U.S. Release Date: 2/16/07 (wide)
Running Length: 1:45
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Peter Fonda, Wes Bentley, Donal Logue, Sam Elliott
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Screenplay: Mark Steven Johnson
Cinematography: Russell Boyd, John Wheeler
Music: Christopher Young
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Picture

In the world of comic books, there are A-list titles and B-list titles. For the movie adaptations, it's easy to tell the two apart. The B-list films feature characters who are not universally recognizable, typically do not command huge budgets, and are released outside of the prime summer months of May through July. Ghost Rider is such a movie. Despite an incredibly silly premise, the comic was popular at one time, possibly because of the cool image presented by the title character. With its cheesy special effects and blasphemously imbecilic storyline, one wonders whether the celluloid version of Ghost Rider will find an audience.

Comic books and theology rarely mix and, when they do, it's usually not a comfortable mélange. This is the case with Ghost Rider, in which the unlikely scenario occurs whereby a servant of Satan becomes the apparent weapon of God. To further muddle things, the Devil isn't really that bad, at least when compared to his son, Blackheart. Most of the time, stories about characters who sell their souls to Mephistopheles have a moral. In this case, it's that God gives second chances to those who save the human race from supernatural annihilation. Daniel Webster he isn't.

As a young man, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) makes a pact with the Devil (Peter Fonda). It's a simple deal: Johnny gives up his soul and Prince of Evil cures Johnny's father of cancer. Years later, Johnny is the world's top stuntman, a modern-day Evel Knievel - except he emerges alive and unscathed from even the most insane motorcycle jumps. He can't die - the Devil owns him. For decades, Mephistopheles leaves Johnny alone. But when Satan's son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), decides to make Earth his dominion, Johnny becomes Ghost Rider - a leather clad biker with a flaming skull for a head. His duty: defeat Blackheart and his three minions, save Johnny's old flame, Roxanne (Eva Mendes), from the clutches of evil, and return balance to the world.

By now, anyone reading this has probably gotten the idea that Ghost Rider isn't in the same league as Spider-Man, The X-Men, Superman, or Batman (unless we're referring to the Man of Steel in Superman IV or the Caped Crusader in Batman and Robin). Maybe this "origin story" worked in the pages of the Ghost Rider comic book (I never was much of a fan, truth be told), but it's laughable on screen. Admittedly, one expects a certain level of preposterousness from a superhero story, but this film is far too silly to be taken seriously on any level. And the pedestrian predictability of the action sequences isn't a saving factor. Watch as Ghost Rider battles the minions one-by-one before facing off against Blackheart at the climax.

Nicolas Cage plays Johnny with an off-kilter intensity that makes for a strangely sympathetic portrayal. Eva Mendes is effective in the girlfriend role, although it doesn't take much to satisfy the requirements: act amazed when confronted with the truth, get captured and need rescuing, and have a sexy/macho shot that will cause heart palpitations for teenage male viewers. These two don't have the chemistry of a Peter Parker and Mary Jane or a Lois and Clark, but they'll do in a pinch. Meanwhile, Peter Fonda wears makeup that causes him to look embalmed while providing a voice that sounds like a bad Clint Eastwood impersonation. And Sam Elliott has a small part that would take about five paragraphs to explain. His most notable contribution is that he has the perfect voice for the voiceover narration.

This is director Mark Steven Johnson's second foray into the realm of Marvel B-list heroes. He previously directed Ben Affleck in 2003's Daredevil, another February release. The earlier movie had fewer special effects, which is probably a good thing since what's on display in Ghost Rider isn't impressive. With new Spider-Man and Fantastic Four movies just around the corner, superhero fans don't have to rely on this feature for their fix. That's fortunate because Ghost Rider is an unholy mess.

Transformers (2007)

SCIENCE FICTION
United States, 2007
U.S. Release Date: 7/3/07 (wide)
Running Length: 2:15
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence, profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rachael Taylor, Anthony Andersen, Jon Voight, John Turturro
Director: Michael Bay
Screenplay: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen
Music: Steve Jablonsky
U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks SKG

When it comes to Transformers, I have no ax to grind, pro or con. For me, it's just another loud, plot-deficient summer motion picture. In this case, nostalgia doesn't grip me - I'm too old to have played with the gadgets or watched the cartoon. I'm sure many fanboys (and girls) will be delighted by what Michael Bay has done to update the Transformers mythos (basically, that means incorporating A-level special effects and blowing lots of things up). On the other hand, those with no particular emotional attachment to the toys and their multimedia offshoots may dislike this movie as much as I did.

Thus far, the summer of 2007 has been full of very loud, very unsatisfying action movies. Transformers tops them all - it's louder, flashier, and more hollow than anything else out there. At 135 minutes, it drags - sometimes painfully so. The movie is top-heavy with exposition, and the only decent action scenes occur in the final 25 minutes. Despite an epileptic camera, those sequences are impressive from a special effects point-of-view, but they aren't exciting. That's because the characters are so poorly developed and the Transformers so singularly uninteresting that the question of who wins or loses doesn't matter. All the effort behind Transformers went into making the robots look cool; nothing went into developing a compelling storyline. Even the headline bout between Optimus Prime and Megatron is pedestrian - two big metallic monsters slugging it out while the camera spins around them as if out of control. It's kind of reminiscent of the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots going at it.

The film tells of the struggle between the good guy Autobots and the bad guy Decepticons as they scour Earth in search of the fabled Allspark (a really big cube of power). The goal of the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron, is to seize the cube as a means of domination and control. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, want to protect humanity by destroying the Allspark. A secret segment of the U.S. military, Sector Seven, has captured the Allspark and is hiding it deep inside the Hoover Dam. They also have a cryogenically frozen Megatron in custody. (I know that all sounds silly, and it is, but short descriptions of science fiction films often come across as childish.)

Shia LaBeouf, who's as hot as any young working male star, plays Sam Witwicky, a high school boy who becomes involved in this situation because his grandfather's glasses contain a clue to the Allspark's location. His father buys him a car for graduation and it turns out to be Bumblebee, an Autobot. For all the time that the movie spends on developing Sam's home life - including giving him a mother, a father, school rivals, and a hot girlfriend (Megan Fox) - the character remains surprisingly lifeless. LaBeouf's performance is charming and earnest but he never made me care about Sam. The intent is to make this an average guy who becomes heroic after being thrust into extraordinary circumstances, but the movie doesn't get us there.

The movie gets a badly needed jolt of energy a little past the half-way point with the introduction of a zany John Turturro as Sector Seven Agent Simmons. Turturro's off-the-wall performance is in synch with what one might expect from a movie that is essentially one long product placement. In fact, the entire first segment with Simmons (from when he enters Sam's house until he has "first contact" with the Transformers) works better as comedy than anything else. Alas, another veteran actor in the cast, Jon Voight, doesn't fare as well as Turturro. The word "embarrassing" was defined for performances like this one. Voight plays the Secretary of Defense. I kept waiting for Leslie Nielsen to show up as the President.

There's a secondary plot involving a group of young analysts and hackers that goes nowhere. Despite absorbing roughly 20 minutes of screen time, there's no payoff for these characters and they pretty much vanish near the end. Their inclusion is baffling since they appear to serve no purpose beyond padding out the film's running length and providing occasional comedy relief (most of which comes courtesy of Anthony Andersen). Cutting out these characters wouldn't damage the film's integrity. In fact, the tighter focus might make for a better movie.

If the dialogue is anything to go by, Bay has a sense of humor. Not only does he take a moment to poke fun at one of his earlier hit movies, but he allows so many howlingly bad lines to be spoken that the level of self-parody has to be intentional. Transformers is a jumble of the good, the bad, and the ugly, with the latter two categories outweighing the former. The film has a lot of nice touches (such as the opening attack in Qatar, where there is a sense of danger, and the John Hughes-inspired introduction of Sam), but the meat of the story is plodding, recycled sci-fi drivel. That, I suppose, is what happens when a major motion picture is based on a 20-plus year old toy phenomenon.

Transformers is so belabored that it makes Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End seem like a masterpiece of pacing. It makes that "classic" midsummer alien invasion movie, Independence Day, seem like a template for inventive plotting and solid character development. Even by Michael Bay standards, this movie is vapid. Yes, there are plenty of explosions, but those are a dime-a-dozen these days; even Discovery Channel's Mythbusters has them. Transformers isn't clean, big-budget fun; it's clean, big-budget tedium. For Transformers fans, I suppose this is a dream motion picture. For everyone else, it's a nightmare.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

United States, 2003
U.S. Release Date: 7/9/03 (wide)
Running Length: 2:20
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Walking dead, violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce
Director: Gore Verbinski
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenplay: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Music: Klaus Badelt
U.S. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

For those taking a global view of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, it's very easy to be cynical. This is, after all, cross-promotion at its most blatant. What could be more marketable that one of Disney's most popular theme park attractions? The name recognition is already in place - all that's necessary to complete the puzzle is a story that will fit the ride. But there are two reasons why jaded ranting isn't the best way to proceed with this review. In the first place, no one really cares. And, more importantly, this is actually an entertaining experience.

Pirates of the Caribbean is good, but not great. Swashbuckling adventures are few and far between these days, so it's a pleasant surprise to see one that is competently made. To add to the enjoyment, the movie never takes itself too seriously. If there wasn't so much action, it would be tempting to classify the production as a comedy. Alas, Pirates of the Caribbean runs for a good 30 minutes too long (the protracted battles with the undead, who cannot be killed, become repetitive), and the denouement is on the weak side. Taken as a whole, however, the movie represents solid fun. A word of caution to parents, however: the PG-13 rating is an indicator that certain elements of the movie are not for younger children. Proceed carefully with sensitive under-11 children.

Cap'n Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is a pirate who's infamous for his ineptitude. After rescuing a damsel, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), he finds himself being thanked by her father (Jonathan Pryce) and her would-be betrothed (Jack Davenport) while simultaneously being arrested for piracy. He escapes, but, after losing a duel with the heroic blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who pines for Elizabeth, he is sent back to jail. However, when the town comes under attack by the pirate ship Black Pearl, and its blackguard of a captain, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), kidnaps Elizabeth, Will springs Jack from prison so the pirate can help him retrieve his beloved. But Barbossa isn't interested in a ransom. He and his crew are cursed to walk the Earth as the living dead until a blood sacrifice can restore their humanity.

As was true with director Gore Verbinski's previous outing, The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean oozes atmosphere. The humor keeps it from becoming too creepy, but there are still a few chills to be had. I was in some ways reminded of Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness, where there were lots of skeletons marching around, some of which were acting like the Three Stooges. Verbinski gets huge assists from cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and composer Klaus Badelt, who is responsible for one of 2003's few memorable musical scores. And, of course, we get to hear a few refrains of the memorable Pirates of the Caribbean anthem: "Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!"

Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Johnny Depp. Keira Knightley (now a familiar face in the wake of Bend It Like Beckham) and Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings' Legolas, sans ears and blond hair) make a cute couple, and Geoffrey Rush is typically over-the-top as the bad guy, but the star of every scene is Depp. With several gold teeth in his mouth and beads in his hair, Depp plays the part with an engaging goofiness that sets the movie's tone. In one scene, Sparrow becomes blind drunk, but his behavior isn't all that different from when he's sober - a clear indicator of where Depp elected to take the character. Sparrow is a rogue through-and-through, and, although he may have a heart of gold, it's definitely tarnished. Take away Depp, and you're left with a derivative and dull motion picture.

As is mandated by the first rule of summer movies - sustain the action - Pirates of the Caribbean is wall-to-wall battles, chases, and fights. The only pauses are those necessitated by the need to advance the plot through exposition. There's lots of swordplay, including a lengthy and memorable struggle between Sparrow and Will. It's probably the best example of cinematic swordfighting since The Mask of Zorro. (It doesn't come close to the clash between Wesley and Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride. In that movie, the actors did their own fencing. Here, it's clear from the obscuring camera angles that stunt performers were involved.) For those who are familiar with the amusement park attraction, most of the key scenes are included (although the hairy leg is missing), emphasizing the movie's tie-in nature. And, if you're dying to see another Disneyworld/Disneyland ride turned into a cinematic endeavor, there's hardly any wait at all - The Haunted Mansion is due out at Thanksgiving. Personally, I can't wait for Space Mountain.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

United States, 2006
U.S. Release Date: 7/7/06 (wide)
Running Length: 2:35
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgård, Jack Davenport, Kevin McNally, Naomie Harris, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hollander
Director: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Music: Hans Zimmer
U.S. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Before Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released, its arrival was greeted with skepticism. After all, this was a movie based on a theme park ride. The production went on to be one of the best reviewed motion pictures of 2003, and "if" questions about a second installment became "when." Because the follow-up story devised by director Gore Verbinski and writers Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio was too big for a single film, the filmmakers decided to make Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 back-to-back (as was done with The Matrix and Back to the Future sequels, and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy), providing less down time in between episodes. The verdict for the middle movie of the proposed three-film arc: although not as much fun as its predecessor, it nevertheless delivers enough jaunty adventure and derring-do to keep fans entertained. The double-cliffhanger ending assures that audience members will be back for Pirates 3. In fact, if the movie didn't look so good on the big screen, I might be tempted to recommend that viewers wait for the next movie to open, then rent this one and see them as a double-feature.

Pacing is a problem for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The 155-minute long film lurches through about 60 minutes of set-up before launching into its main story in earnest. The amount of time it takes Verbinski to get all the pieces in play makes the plot seem more complicated than it is. Dead Man's Chest is essentially a quest movie: find the key and chest, and use one to open the other. Of course, multiple factions want what's inside the chest, so that sets up the conflict. Once everything is established, the movie offers plenty of what made the first one so popular, but there's a sense that Dead Man's Chest doesn't need to be as long as it is.

Nearly everyone, favorites and not-so-favorites, are back. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are about to be married when they are arrested on charges that they abetted the escape of the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). (See events of the first film for details.) Lord Cutter Beckett (Tom Hollander), the man behind the warrants, doesn't really want to see Will and Elizabeth die. He wants to cut a deal. If they agree to help him, he'll see that they avoid the gallows. All they have to do is locate Jack and persuade him to give up his magic compass. Will goes first, locates Jack, ends up captured by a bunch of cannibals who worship the good Captain as their god, then escapes with Jack and others onto the Black Pearl. Jack is searching for a mysterious key and an even more mysterious chest, but he's not the only one. Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), a half-human half-squid who controls the mythological Kraken, also wants the chest, albeit for different reasons. Finding the chest becomes a race, with Will trapped in between. Elizabeth frees herself from Lord Beckett's clutches and joins the fray with the goal of saving Will, then discovers to her horror that she may be more romantically attracted to the devious Jack than her straight-as-an-arrow fiancé.

The comedy in Dead Man's Chest is more subdued than in The Curse of the Black Pearl, but there's still a strong sense of irreverence. One of the movie's biggest action sequences, which takes place on an island and feature no less than five factions struggling for possession of two items, is heavily influenced not only by Errol Flynn but by Looney Tunes and the Three Stooges. Yes, there's sword action and ship-to-ship cannon action, but there's also a runaway water wheel, characters fleeing hither and fro, and a monster that literally loses its head and keeps shouting orders. The movie isn't as flip as its predecessor, but it avoids the deadly trap of taking itself too seriously. Then again, it's hard to figure how a production with the central character of Captain Jack could ever stumble into that pitfall. As he was in The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack doesn't know the meaning of the word "serious," even when he's staring into the maw of the Kraken.

If it's the characters that keep film-goers coming back, there's reason to rejoice. Johnny Depp's Captain Jack has lost none of his swishy swagger. Depp is in peak form again, burying himself in the part and making the Captain the most dashing rogue this side of Han Solo. We don't see much of it, but we believe Elizabeth when she asserts there's a heart of gold inside the carefree exterior. For her part, Knightley has grown into Elizabeth. The character feels more integral to the story than in The Curse of the Black Pearl, where she was more often than not the obligatory love interest. Dead Man's Chest takes Elizabeth's romantic life in an unexpected direction, as sparks fly between her and Jack. Knightley and Depp have chemistry; Knightley and Bloom do not. Therefore, this pairing makes sense. Plus, as there's a submerged goodness in Jack, there's a hidden devilish side to Elizabeth.

Orlando Bloom's Will is a little more interesting this time around, but not much more. Bloom is adequate, and his legion of fans will have plenty to squeal about, but he is often overshadowed by Depp and/or Knightley. Actually, many of his scenes are with the CGI-enhanced Bill Nighy, whose voice is marginally more recognizable than his features. Davy Jones represents a creepy villain (splendidly rendered on a computer), but he lacks the vicious charm of Geoffrey Rush. Viewers will feel the absence of Barbarosa (although not his monkey). Stellan Skarsgård joins the film as Will's dead (?) father, Bootstrap Bill. (Death in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe is little more than a temporary inconvenience.) Jonathan Pryce (as Elizabeth's father) and Jack Davenport (as Elizabeth's former earnest suitor) both return, as do the comedic duo of Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg as the series' versions of C3PO and R2D2.

In essence, Dead Man's Chest gives us an opportunity to join old friends on a new adventure that isn't substantially different from the old one. Many of the same elements are here - ghost ships, the walking dead, hidden treasure - and that's all right because it's part of what we might now refer to as the "Pirates of the Caribbean formula." The slow, uneven beginning is more than compensated for by the rousing climax, and the last scene promises more of the same the next time around, with possibly greater things to come. If I had to choose between the first two films in terms of which provides the more full entertainment experience, I would pick The Curse of the Black Pearl, but Dead Man's Chest isn't far behind.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

ACTION/ADVENTURE
United States, 2007
U.S. Release Date: 5/25/07 (wide)
Running Length: 2:48
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Chow Yun-Fat, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin R. McNally, Tom Hollander, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook
Director: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Music: Hans Zimmer
U.S. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

When it comes to the final hour, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, delivers the goods. The last 60 minutes offer adventure as rousing as anything provided in either of the previous installments, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Unfortunately, that doesn't account for the other 108 minutes of this gorged, self-indulgent, and uneven production. During the course of nearly two hours of exposition and setup, there's little in the way of charm or action. There are memorable moments, to be sure, but the overwhelming sense is that the film is desperately spinning its wheels trying to shock and awe with unexpected plot developments.

As an end to a trilogy, At World's End does its job, although with less flair and economy than one might hope. It resolves myriad subplots and gets the surviving characters to places where their stories can end or go on, as future sequels demand. Like the other two entries in the series, it's too long and needlessly convoluted. The movie is also more ponderous than the previous Pirates. The defining quality of Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest was a sense of breezy fun. This movie lacks the same feel. Perhaps it’s the weight of expectations and the need to top what went before. The thrilling final hour is almost enough to make one forget how much of a labor it is to trudge through the first two-thirds - almost, but not quite.

The movie's first act concentrates on the rescue of Cap'n Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from Davy Jones' Locker, where he ended up after dueling the Kraken at the end of the second installment. Jack and his ship, The Black Pearl, are stuck in limbo, where's he's seeing multiples of himself and being followed by a crab that looks like a rock. Meanwhile, his former companions - including Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley), and the newly resurrected Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) - go to the Orient to enlist the help of Pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Their goal: travel to the land beyond death and retrieve Jack. Then, with him in tow, they can attend a gathering of the Nine Lords of the Brethren to determine the future of piracy in the Caribbean. With Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in his thrall, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and his lacky, Admiral James Norrington (Jack Davenport), have control of the seas. No normal ship can stand against The Flying Dutchman.

At World's End doesn't blend the humor and the derring-do as well as its predecessors. For the most part, the jokes are lazier and Cap'n Jack has lost some of his zing. Maybe it has something to do with his being killed at the end of the last movie. Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa is more restrained; the intimidation factor is gone. Maybe it has something to do with his being resurrected at the end of the last movie. The on-again/off-again love affair between Will and Elizabeth is on again (following her brief dalliance with Jack) and, while sparks don't fly, at least both characters evidence more pizzazz this time 'round. Meanwhile, Cap'n Jack finds his screen time leeched away to others. A late entrance and too may extraneous side-stories take the focus off our swishy hero, and that's not a good thing.

Three films into what could be a very long run (as long as the box office holds up and the actor remains interested), Depp has found his alter-ego's skin to be a comfortable fit. He's a little less flip this time around, but he still has a good one-liner or two reserved for special occasions. Kiera Knightley continues the ascendancy she began in Dead Man's Chest, evolving from damsel in distress to full-fledged pirate and swordswoman. Is there anything sexier than a woman with a naked blade? Sadly, her sparkling chemistry with Depp is absent this time around - the two say no more than a handful of words to each other. Orlando Bloom has grown into his role. Finally, Will Turner has becomes something a little more interesting than a one-dimensional hero type. There's a little Han Solo in this Luke Skywalker.

As far as the bad guys are concerned, they're not an intimidating bunch. Without his Kraken, Davy Jones is just another fishy looking CGI creature. As Cutler Beckett, Tom Hollander does a good job being nasty, but one never gets the impression that he'll be able to get the better of Jack. Defining other villains could be misleading since numerous characters changes sides, some more than once. At times, a scorecard is needed to figure who's on which team at any given time.

Most of the film's special effects budget was consumed in the final 45 minutes, during which At World's End throws everything one could ask for from a pirate movie at the audience. There are swordfights in the rigging, sea storms, ship-to-ship battles between entire fleets, monkeys loaded into canons, a woman dissolving into crabs, and all manner of other excesses to shiver one's timbers. And, for those who are patient and willing to sit through the entire seven minutes of end credits, there's a nice reward at the end. I won't reveal anything about the "bonus" scene except to say that it's more significant than the one following the credits for Dead Man's Chest.

The need to make longer, more busy second sequels is an undesirable trend. By throwing so much into the mix, the filmmakers - including director Gore Verbinski, who has helmed all three pirate yarns - risk losing what attracted viewers in the first place. The initial Pirates was an unexpected hit. The need to do things bigger and more spectacular led to fissures in Dead Man's Chest. Those fissures have widened and deepened in At World's End.

Most Pirates aficionados won't complain (at least not too much). This is a chance to re-visit old friends and see where some of their stories end. It's a chance to sail with Cap'n Jack from death to life and meet his dad (played, as has been reported everywhere, by Keith Richards). The movie does enough things right that it won't leave scores of despondent fans in its wake. Unfortunately, it does enough things wrong to keep me from giving it a wholehearted recommendation. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse. We can be thankful it's not the latter while mourning it's not the first.

Saw IV

HORROR
United States, 2007
U.S. Release Date: 10/26/07 (wide)
Running Length: 1:35
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, gore, profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Lyriq Bent, Athena Karkanis
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
Cinematography: David A. Armstrong
Music: Charlie Clouser
U.S. Distributor: Lionsgate

Horror films are like candy corn: familiar, bland, and sickening if consumed in large quantities. They're both ubiquitous at this time of year and there must be a large group of individuals who appreciate their dubious charms because they never go away. I like a good, scary horror film - something that raises the hackles and keeps me on the edge of my seat. It's been a while since I have seen one, however. (Maybe the last one was The Descent.) I have watched all four Saw movies but didn't review installment #2 or #3. I have selected to review this one to show how far this series has fallen since its promising debut.

One of the depressing things about sequels in general and horror sequels in particular is the tendency to fall into a pattern of repetition. An idea that starts out fresh quickly becomes stale through overuse. This is evident in Saw IV, easily the worst and most pointless episode of the gore-saturated quadrology. Not only does Saw IV repeat (with a few variations) what has come before, but it does so without the involvement of the main villain, Jigaw (Tobin Bell), who died at the end of Saw III. To its credit, the movie does not bring him back from the dead, but that leaves a notable vacuum of insanity. There's a bad guy of sorts, but it's not the same.

Saw IV functions as a drawn-out, tedious epilogue to a series that began with an energetic bang three years ago with Saw, then progressively lost momentum, coherence, and intelligence with each successive annual installment. Saw IV is nothing short of a money-grab. Despite a couple of loose ends (that are tied up unsatisfactorily here), Saw III finished the story. Although Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of Saw II and III, is back for IV, screenwriter Leigh Whannell has not returned.

It's hard to disagree that there was a strong streak of sadism in even the first Saw, but the ingeniousness of the situation and the novelty of the approach trumped its gorier and nastier aspects. The balance changed for the sequel, however, where the "intelligence" became an excuse for a growing sense of mean-spiritedness. By the time the series reached Saw IV, questions of "morality" and twisted "choice" have largely been supplanted by gratuitous torture. The macabre has been escalated to a grisly level where all that seems to matter any more is figuring out new ways to eviscerate and slaughter victims. Saw IV has more in common with Hostel II than its progenitor.

The film opens with a graphic autopsy of Jigsaw. Although the frequent resurrections of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees have taught us to treat death with skepticism in horror movies, Jigsaw does not get up off the table. He stays dead, although that doesn't mean he's absent from the movie. He has made tapes to be played after his demise and there are flashbacks. The most notable aspect of Saw IV may be that we learn most of Jigsaw's unrevealed back story. If only it was more interesting…

Two surviving cops have returned from the previous Saws: Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Rigg (Lyriq Bent). They are joined by a couple of Feds: Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Agent Perez (Athena Karkanis). These four believe that, even though Jigsaw and Amanda are no longer among the living, someone continues to carry out their work. In short order, Hoffman is kidnapped and learns (to his chagrin) the fate of Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), and Rigg ends up going on one of Jigsaw's long, multi-part quests (like Angus Mcfadyen's Jeff in Saw III). The body count and number of flashbacks pile up until everything sort-of gets resolved. There is certainly a wide door left open for the possibility of a Saw V (although, if there is one, it won't happen next year).

Bousman's style is much the same here as it was in Saw II and III. The color is desaturated to an extremity where many of the scenes appear to be almost black-and-white. There are frequent jump cuts and occasional flash repeats of moments. It's all very showy but doesn't do much to enhance the overall experience. At least the action scenes aren't filmed using the shaky cam approach. When someone dies, it's not hard to figure out what has happened. Then again, for a film that revels in the inventiveness of its murders, an epileptic style would defeat the purpose. You need to see the gore in clear detail in order to get the full impact.

Saw IV will likely sate the appetite of long-term, hardcore fans of the franchise, but it offers nothing to anyone who does not fall into that category. The movie's dense plotting and frequent flashbacks demand familiarity with the previous installments to make any sort of sense, and even then there are some sizable gaps. Did I piece everything together? No. Do I care? Not really. There are no human beings in this movie - just blood bags waiting to be popped. It's a depressing experience to view something like Saw IV. It's not just the soullessness that's dispiriting, but the lack of invention. When a movie does little more than repeat what its predecessors accomplished with grotesque effectiveness, it's past time to tip this corpse into its grave and bury it.