Good Open ended sequel!

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2006)

After watching the first film it was obvious to all that there just had to be a sequel following Captain Jack's adventures on the ocean and everybody expecting as good a ride as the first film. The film did deliver! Dead Mans Chest finds Captain Jack searching for Davey Jones chest which holds a mythical contents inside, but on Jacks trail is Will who must bring Jack back to port Royale so he and Elizabeth can avoid been hung by Lord Cuttler for helping Jack escape capture, but Will ends up helping Jack to find the chest but also finds a family member along the way! And with Davey Jones making sure Jack and Will have a hard time finding the chest, they certainly have their work cut out for them! Of course with the original film the star of the show is Johnny Depp who is cool, funny, and just great eye candy for the viewer and he didn't win the Oscar last time for his performance but he should win it this time because his performance is even better! And of course we can not forget Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly put in good performances as well but they are overshadowed somewhat by Captain Jack! While the film plays out we meet a few new characters, one of which is the villain of the piece, Davey Jones who is half man, half every underwater creature you could imagine who is played by Bill Nighy. The great thing about the character is you really cant tell when it is Bill Nighy in makeup or when it is full CGI which is a massive achievement. We also catch up with Norrington who is no longer Comadore and is now a drunk who ends up joining Jacks motley crew to find the chest.
Like its predecessor this film relies heavily on CGI, and with some films it just isn't convincing enough but this film is absolutely fantastic with the CGI and with the character of Davey Jones you really cant tell at points whether it is the actor in makeup or not, it really is that good! The action has really been bumped up with even more sword fights in the most unusual surroundings for example fighting in a large water wheel rolling down a hill and also fighting on the ruins of a church. The fights are good but it feels like they are carbon copies of fights we saw in the original and i really wanted something new.
One of the best scenes has to be when the Kraken is summoned. By the way a Kraken is a giant sized octopus type of thing which is a weapon that Davey Jones uses a couple of times during the film and it really does gives some great action scenes.
The direction is very strong as is the script and the characters and i hope that this will continue to the next film. The ending of this film will surprise you as you will meet a character you may not be expecting to wet our appetites for Pirates Of The Caribbean 3.
Overall this films is about on the same level as the first but with some weak places within the film with the pacing being a little off but apart from that all thats left to say is bring on number 3! ******** out **********