A Cute Little Disney Film but Not for Children

Rating: 5/10 (7 December 2006)

'Pirates Of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest' is but the second installment (the third has already been shot) in the series of movies based on a Disneyland ride: strange nidus for a story idea and one that takes a bit of patience to sit through, but a fun evening nevertheless. Though the first installment took the audience by surprise with the character of Jack Sparrow so inimitably portrayed by the gifted Johnny Depp and therefore served as a tastier treat, this second installment substitutes sea-dead cum barnacles for the dancing skeletons of the first and is a bit more grisly...and a lot less fun.
But Gore Verbinski knows how to choreograph these outings and he is able to marry some very fine special effects to the genuinely good cast of characters and the result is a fantasy that is a visual delight. The cast includes Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy who is completely covered in tentacles as Davy Jones, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hollander, Stellan Skarsgård,and Naomie Harris and they all seem to be having a glorious time. It is a bit long for a slight story (well in excess of two hours) and the special effects of the kraken (octopus like tentacles) overwhelming boats becomes tedious, but it is a fun outing and it all too blatantly sets us up for part three due our next spring. Grady Harp