"Captain Jack is back" state the ads for this sequel to the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). By placing Johnny Depp's charismatic pirate as the main selling point of this follow-up, the filmmakers acknowledge the fact that, despite all the characters and incidents in the original film, the main draw for audiences is Captain Jack Sparrow. This sequel picks up soon after the events of the first film, with Depp's pirate now captain of the Black Pearl and its crew. Although Jack is out on the open sea, he's far from a free man. He discovers that he has been cursed by Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), a mysterious figure who lives in the depths of the ocean with his condemned crew. It seems that Jack owes a debt to Davy Jones, and now Jack has to pay up.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner (Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom) have their marriage plans interrupted by the scheming Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trade Company, who arrests the couple for helping Jack escape custody. But Beckett has another agenda; he wants to find Captain Jack and locate the Dead Man's Chest, a mysterious item that's connected to both Davy Jones and Jack. It's not long before Will and Elizabeth are caught up in the quest for the Dead Man's Chest, and face an assortment of funny and thrilling adventures along the way.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is like a rousing, old-fashioned adventure movie crossed with a school panto, and spruced up with state of the art moviemaking technology. There are references (intentional or otherwise) to films as diverse as The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Clash of the Titans (1981), Raiders of the Ark (1981) and the classic Errol Flynn pirate movie Captain Blood (1935). The filmmaker could easily have put Depp front and centre (and it would be understandable if they did, he's undoubtedly the star of the show) and sidelined the rest of the cast, but each character gets a chance to shine. Along with appearances by a few familiar faces from the first film, Bill Nighy's slithery Davy Jones is a memorable new addition to the proceedings, playing a menacing but tragic villain.
However, it's Depp's sozzled, raucous pirate who steals the film, just as he did the first time round. It's a winning characterisation, with Captain Jack once again stumbling through the action in a daze, acting like a mercenary one minute, but then revealing his heroic side the next. Knightley and Bloom are rather bland and ineffectual in their dramatic scenes, but thankfully they are a lot more relaxed in the films' comic moments. There are plenty of outrageous action and comedy set pieces throughout the film, including a chase sequence in a rolling cage, a sword fight in a huge spinning wheel and numerous attacks on sea vessels by a deadly sea monster under the control of Davy Jones.
This eagerly anticipated sequel doesn't start too promisingly though: a muddled, unfocused beginning consists of a succession of seemingly random scenes strung together, and the film has trouble establishing its story and characters. But after the arrival at an island where Jack is worshipped as a deity by the population, the film finds its feet and is soon off and running. From this point on, the film wastes no time in whisking its characters from one set piece to another, like an amusement park ride (which is apt, seeing as the film is inspired by a Walt Disney theme park attraction). In the midst of the action though, the film adds a few new layers to the established Pirates of the Caribbean universe, and in its latter stages it even has a few surprises up its sleeve, which will leave audiences wanting more by the time the end credits roll.
DVD Extras
Disc One
� Filmmaker & Star Commentaries
� Bloopers of the Caribbean
Disc Two
� Charting the Return Documentary
� According to Plan Documentary
� Captain Jack: From Head to Toe
� Mastering the Blade
� Meet Davy Jones: Anatomy of a Legend
� Creating the Kraken
� Dead Men Tell New Tales
� Fly on the Set
� Jerry Bruckheimer: A Producer's Photo Diary
� Pirates on Main Street: The Dead Man's Chest Premiere
