The second major action set piece, “Wheel of Fortune”, is also a stand-out, maintaining its tremendous pace and breathless energy throughout its 7-minute length. Zimmer has said in interviews that he saw the tortured ancient mariners of the Flying Dutchman as being a kind of fishy biker gang, and as such his music to accompany their nefarious aquatic endeavours has more than a hint of axle grease: bass guitars, brooding synths, low-end brass clusters, and thrusting, pugnacious rhythms accompany them in “The Kraken”, which gradually develops into an astonishingly powerful action cue, complete with a classical pipe organ undercurrent which acts as a recurring leitmotif for Jones himself, who plays the keys with the tendrils of his squid-like features. Martin Tillman’s ubiquitous electric cello opens the proceedings, performing a jaunty, slightly-drunken sounding theme for “Jack Sparrow”, which somehow manages to capture the unusual dichotomy of heroism and effeminateness, and his lazy swaggering walk all in one, before launching into a rousing rendition of Sparrow’s main themes from the first score. To his credit, though, Zimmer has managed to integrate several new themes and motifs into the new score to give it its own sense of being and identity. If you liked the first Pirates score, there is every chance you will have the same feelings for this one. The difference musically is that, this time, rather than simply act as an “over-producer”, Hans Zimmer himself has taken over the lead composing reigns from Klaus Badelt – although, in truth, the handover is as seamless as if Zimmer and the team of ‘additional musicians’ had been involved all along.Īs one would expect, the general tone of the score is exactly the same as its predecessor: power anthems, thunderous action cues, low male voice choirs, rousing themes, and all that. Returning alongside the central cast along with director Gore Verbinski are Jack Davenport, Kevin McNally, Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook, as well as newcomers Stellan Skarsgard and Naomie Harris. There are cannibals and great escapes and sea monsters and and mysterious voodoo women and armies of fishy brigands, swordfights and fistfights and moments of derring do, romances and rehabilitations and double crossing and trickery – it’s all wonderfully entertaining and breathtakingly exciting, as every summer blockbuster should be. The film is a superb, rollercoaster ride in the grandest tradition, which at the time of writing has already taken $380 million at the US box office. Jack, however, has got problems of his own – years ago, the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) rescued Jack and his ship from a watery grave, and now the captain of the Flying Dutchmen and his crew of aquatic buccaneers are looking to make good on their bargain and claim what Jack promised them… his eternal soul. Fail, and they both will face the hangman’s noose. His bargain to Will is to have him track down Sparrow and his compass, which Beckett believes is of significant value. However, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the daughter of the Governor of Tortuga (Jonathan Pryce), and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), her husband-to-be, are arrested for treason by the nefarious Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), a new administrator sent from Britain to the islands. Yet again, though, the bottom line is this: it may be inappropriate, and simplistic, and bear no relation to either the Disney ride or the musical genre conventions of pirate movies, but each and every time I listen to it, I have a bloody good time, and thoroughly enjoy the experience.ĭead Man’s Chest takes place shortly after the conclusion of the first movie, and sees Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), the flamboyant captain of the pirate ship The Black Pearl, at large on the high seas. Three years later, and Hans Zimmer’s score for the sequel, Dead Man’s Chest, has me thinking the exact same thing. How can I, as a “respected” reviewer of film music, give such a high rating to a score which is quite blatantly inappropriate for the movie, predictable to the extreme, and derivative of virtually every major Media Ventures action score written in the last ten years?”. When I wrote my review of Klaus Badelt’s score for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl back in 2003, my opening paragraph read: “In giving Pirates of the Caribbean a four-star review, I’m making myself undergo a crisis of conscience.
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