User blog comment:Buccaneer Blue/Davy Jones as discussed by the honest critic/@comment-2084412-20170127213539

I don't know, I guess the "cutting your own heart out" to me is just the Pirates films being over-the-top as usual. There's already supernatural stuff taking place, and it's no more hard to believe for me than pirates turning into skeletons in the moonlight.

I suppose I enjoy Davy Jones because of the combination of the "scare factor" and the comedy. I was still a kid when I first saw DMC, so Jones was a pretty gruesome antagonist to me. He was a legitimate force to be feared, and that made him "cool" (see Darth Vader) in a sense. But as I've grown older, I've appreciated Jones because of Bill Nighy's performance, his unique, over the top design, and the general essence of "hamming it up." His theme isn't my favorite, but I love the intro to the film version of his theme that plays when he's playing the organ himself. Also I love organ music, so I'm biased in that sense - I also love any type of mythical monsters of the ocean or legends of sea creatures. J Fan called him sort of the devil or the Grim Reapear of the Pirates movies, which I think is accurate. He's a demonic presence that all sailors are afraid of. He's this brute who bargains with souls.

And despite all of that, he has a sort of tragic backstory. I think the writers would have gone more in depth with Jones' history with Calypso, but the third movie was already jammed with tons of side stories and I'd say it's a good call to avoid filling it up further. Clearly she seduced him though, and he was obviously under the impression that she loved him if he was willing to do he work for ten years. Seems as though he was only a toy or a tool to her though, hence her absence and Jones' outrage.

I suppose AWE is a classic story of contrast. Good ole Will Turner remarks that "it depends on the one day" when referring to his duty to carry souls from one realm to another for ten years, only able to see his wife for one day afterwards. As cheesy as the romance can be, Will and Elizabeth's love is real, whereas Calypso merely manipulated Jones, as it seems.

In the end, though, I just love watching Jones for his remarkably well-done appearance, the hilarious and menacing performance by Nighy, and the general atmosphere revolving around him. I suppose it's just a matter of taste, as with anything.