Review Detail

Gosh, this was terrific! I never cared much for any of the "Pirates" movies past the first one due to them being over-long, unpleasant to look at, and damn near incomprehensible. I'm happy to say that TM2YC has redeemed this one for me in a big way. The color correction? Perfect. The restructuring and simplification of the plot? Inspired. And it's funny, while one of my major complaints about the theatrical cut of Dead Man's Chest was the preponderance of lengthy, ridiculous action sequences, here they didn't bother me at all! Even though the editor left all of these scenes relatively untouched, the length of these scenes doesn't grate in the same way (at least for me). I think the reason for this is the improved pacing. Since it now doesn't take forever to get through every single scene, and since the plot is so streamlined, these sequences now feel like logically-placed, epic set-pieces instead of just one more thing that's getting in the way and slowing the narrative down.

I only have a couple of negative things to say, and they are very minor. Firstly, for a movie called "Captain Jack Sparrow and the Heart of Davy Jones" the titular pirate feels awfully sidelined. It's not a criticism of the cuts, as they were all well chosen, but since the movie focuses much more on Will and Elizabeth, it's hard to really see this as Jack's adventure. And lastly (yes this really is it), I will echo the sentiment of other reviewers that, while I like the new ending, it does end rather abruptly, meaning the final moment doesn't land properly.

All in all, though, this is a very professional and enjoyable edit and a much more worthy follow-up to the first film. I highly recommend watching it, and in the best possible quality for your setup.