Non-stop action and great entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2006)

Three years after the surprising success of Disney's swashbuckling adventure inspired by the theme park ride "Pirates of the Caribbean", a new adventure of the gang of buccaneers appeared on the big screen with higher expectations than the ones its predecessor faced. While it lacks the originality and "surprise factor" of the first film, it's safe to say that Gore Verbinski's new entry on the series fulfill the expectations nicely and delivers its fair share of entertainment and adventure with a joy rarely seen on screen. It may not be a perfect film, but it's one of the most entertaining and funny adventures of the last years.
The story begins with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley)'s wedding canceled when the couple is arrested for aiding Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in his escape. Sentenced to death, Will is offered a chance to save their lives, he must bring Jack Sparrow and his magic compass to the hands of Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and the East India Company. At the same time, Sparrow faces troubles of his own, as he has a debt to pay to the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), the supernatural captain of the ghostly ship named "The Flying Dutchman". Will and Jack's interests will conflict and a quest will start for the Dead Man's Chest, a mysterious artifact that holds the key to their salvation.
Written again by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the film continues delivering the same style of swashbuckling action and light-hearted comedy that made the first one successful. With the advantage of having the characters already established, the film goes straight to the action and turns the "Pirates" series into an epic quest that without a doubt will be fulfilled in the third entry of the now trilogy. This is probably a two sided blade, as unlike the first film, this one serves as a build up for the third and could be said that it lacks a proper conclusion following the style of movie serials of old or more recently, the "Star Wars" series.
Director Gore Verbinski once again becomes the mastermind behind this ambitious sequel, and carefully builds up the epic adventure taking it to the realms of fantasy with the aid of very good special effects creating incredible monsters and supernatural creatures. This mixture of historical setting and fantasy elements is nothing new, as the first one had its share of it, however, here the effects are bigger and of greater importance, although surprisingly, not entirely overwhelming. Verbinski's daring mix of special effects and extensive plot is risky, but fortunately it ends on a positive note.
Johnny Depp once again leads the show, and while certainly both Bloom and Knightley have improved, they still look overshadowed by the imposing presence of Depp's talent. The addition of Bill Nighy is an excellent one, and he manages to challenge Depp's domain of the film and successfully steals every scene he is in. Even with his face completely covered with Computer effects, Nighy delivers a performance on the level of the best swashbuckling villains of all time. The rest of the cast remains basically the same as in the previous movie with few improvements, although Stellan Skarsgård surprises as the ghostly incarnation of Will Turner's father.
"Dead Man's Chest" is a very entertaining and well-done film, but it has some severe flaws that by now most critics have pointed out. For once, it's the overlong runtime, that wouldn't be a real problem if it weren't for the fact that some unnecessary scenes are the ones that cause this extensive runtime. Particularly the introductory scenes seem to go forever making the rest of the film look rushed and some character's decision seem out of character. While some have criticized the plot as "incoherent", personally I think that it's very good despite its slow and overlong start.
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" may not change the world of cinema, nor leave an everlasting impact as the previous entry; but at least it serves as the beginning of a new adventure that explores this romantic idealization of the pirate's life. It's great escapism and healthy entertainment that hopefully will have a terrific conclusion in part three. 7/10