Last night we went (sans kids) to see Dead Man's Chest.  As we were leaving, Paul said, "That was a lot like Empire Strikes Back."  And it was -- in two ways.  (Some spoilers.)

Structurally, the two films are similar.  DMC is the second in a trilogy, filmed with the knowledge that there will be a third film.  Although the first Pirates movie is a stand-alone movie (like Star Wars) with a beginning, middle and end, DMC (like Empire) is all middle.  DMC (like Empire) is full of cliffhangers, double crosses, parallel plots, and unresolved revelations and crises.  You want the third movie to be released right now.  DMC, being the middle of the story, is all about action and crisis.

The two films are almost identical in character, theme and plot.  You have two guys and a girl involved in various quests, although each character has their own sub-quest.  You're not sure if feisty Elizabeth/Leia will end up with honorable Will/Luke or with rebellious, self-centered Jack/Han Solo.  Jack/Han Solo keeps leaving or threatening to leave, but keeps coming back to save them.  During their adventures, they meet up with an old friend, the ex-commodore/Lando who double-crosses them.  He may redeem himself in the next episode, however.  In this episode, we meet Will/Luke's father, who left the boy to become a pirate/darth bad guy.  The father may have second thoughts now, but his soul is owned by Davy Jones/Emperor.  We'll have to see if tfather and son can join forces to defeat Davy Jones/Emperor in the next episode.  Poor Elizabeth/Leia's world, which was ruled by her governor father (no seeming analogue), is now under the rule of the evil East India Company arm of the British government/ evil Empire, and she must save Port Royal.  We also have the same ensemble cast:  First Mate/Chewbacca and two bumbling Black Pearl PIrates/R2D2 and C3PO.  Jack/Han has a ship with a checkered past, the Black Pearl/Millennium Falcon, that is not much to look at, but gets the job done.  And the big finish:  at the end of the movie, we think Jack/Han is a goner, but we're concocting a plan to bring him back to life.

And, if you've already seen the movie, you know that the whole "We're on an island inhabited by savage Ewoks who think one of us is a God but are going to carry us around on poles and roast us" plot was thrown into the DMC one episode too early.  So who knows what the third movie holds in store for us now!

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