Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Yay! Finally a movie this summer that really lived up to my expectations! Without being negative about Superman Returns or X-Men 3, Pirates is finally a movie that is dead-on.

This movie is darker than the first and it feels like the middle movie of a trilogy. Remember Empire Strikes Back? Remember how you felt at the end of the movie when Han Solo was being loaded onto Boba Fett's ship and Luke just had his hand replaced? It was a little sad, but you knew they'd be back and things would get better. Dead Man's Chest is like that.

The creatures and effects were incredible. The acting and casting was again fantastic and the whole movie moved and kept me engaged. It was so much fun. We took my 8-year-old daughter and my 3-year-old son. My son fell asleep at the beginning of the movie (he always does), but woke up and enjoyed the end of the movie. My daughter loved the whole thing and hasn't stopped talking about it. Don't take your kids just because I took mine, though. It might be too scary for some kids.

If I had to pick an overall personal favorite for 2006, this would be it and I expect that not to change. But last year I would have bet money that Batman Begins was going to be my overall favorite and I ended up picking Narnia as my favorite for the year, so there may be a surprise in the next six months. 2π