A dark and frolicking sequel

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2006)

It's obvious from the first rain-soaked opening shots of Dead Mans Chest that this film has a darker nature than the often merry "Curse of the Black Pearl". (If you consider rotting, undead corpses on a ghost ship merry, that is.) What's less obvious is this movies beating heart, which lies at both the literal and figurative center of the story.
Old characters are back, and although some reviewers accuse them of being well, out of character, I didn't notice a great change. Will is still noble, slightly bumbling, deadly-with-a-sword-ready-to die-for-love-and-honor-Turner. Jack is still a drunken scoundrel with a decent streak that often lands him in trouble, and Elizabeth is still torn between being proper and being Elizabeth. If the character have seemed to have lost something, it was probably innocence. And quite frankly,who can blame them after everything they had seen?
There is a plot, of sorts. Granted, it won't win a guild award, but it doesn't have to. Like a dime store romance (or a great swashbuckler) the plot(having something to do with an angry squid named Davey and a magical compass)only has to serve as a means of getting our hero(s) into one pickle after another. But it does more than that, giving us more history about the first movie (origin of the Black Pearl, The nature of Jack's broken compass)and moments that surpass the first in impact ( watching Jack come face to face with the Kraken is worth the price of admission) All in all, if your looking for the next "Citizen Kane" (or another "Curse of the Black Pearl) you'll be disappointed. But if your looking for a swashbuckling, arse-kicking sequel, you'll enjoy it from beginning to end.