Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, sailed into theaters in search of box-office treasure with skull and crossbones flying as the second episode in what will be three or more installments of this forthrightly commercial tale of a pirate king and a pirate chaser.
And, in W. S. Gilbert’s gleeful couplet, for Johnny Depp apparently “It is, it is a jolly good thing to be a pirate king.”
While some critics fired warning shots across the bow, the dashing trivia recouped record gold doubloons at the box office.
We will tip our three-cornered hats out of deference to the same kind of infantile fun that glimmered in our own childhoods. We do wonder, though, if at some point in the long evolution of human entertainment more timely topics might appear on the horizon of Hollywood’s producers of youth-oriented adventure schemes.
But for now we merely witness, with a chest-caving sigh and a faltering wave, our hopes sail off into the sunset, while into port eases yet another colorful boatload of retro high jinks on the high seas.
Tom Attea, humorist and creator of NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway and has written comedy for TV. Critics have called his writing ""delightfully funny" and "witty" with "good, genuine laughs." |
|
