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I wanted to love this movie. I really did! But I found myself groaning more than I found myself laughing.

The first movie was surprisingly fun to watch so I had equal hopes for this one. I had company at my house for the evening and was ready to enjoy an action film that was witty and had fun fantasy wardrobe stuff. “Swashbuckle” is fun to say, too, and I planned to sprinkle this review liberally with the term.

*sigh*

The costumes did not disappoint, and the actors’ performances didn’t either. But the movie did. The script was tight and the wit was intact; however, the writers of the action sequences threw in every possible cliche’ they could. I often talk about “suspension of disbelief” and the amount of it required to watch a film. Obviously a movie with an undead octopus-faced character requires it. However, action sequences should be cleverly choreographed and demand that the characters have superhero-like grace and ingenuity. I do not need to see two characters on a runaway mill wheel and think “surely that wheel would have already hit a tree.” The sequence was so long that I thought that thought over and over. It totally ruined my immersion.

Also, the movie “ended” about four times. Each time was a big, dramatic, loud action sequence with all the overtures of a denouement, but then the film just wouldn’t end. It left me begging for the real ending instead of enjoying any more of the movie.

Verdict: watchable, yes. But not as swashbucklingly swashbuckle-y as I’d hoped.

[rate 2.5]