It's Cap'n Jack Sparra Versus Davy Jones !

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2008)

Will Turner is tasked with finding the elusive Captain Jack Sparrow and retrieving a magical compass. Jack however has other problems - his soul is promised to the infamous scourge of the seven seas, Davy Jones, and Jones is coming to collect
This terrific sequel to The Curse Of The Black Pearl is another rip-roaring pirate adventure, chock-full of derring-do, nautical action, agreeable mugging and buccaneering mayhem. It has death threats, cannibals, voodoo curses, Kraken attacks, a fight atop a water wheel and a terrific villain who looks like a human octopus, sounds like a Scottish sergeant major and ripped his own heart out because he felt like it. As with the previous movie, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's script is first-rate, with a fine MacGuffin, plenty of crazy twists and some surprisingly intense character moments (particularly between Depp and Knightley), but it's real success is in just being a good old-fashioned pirate adventure; the modern-day equivalent of those old Errol Flynn-Basil Rathbone movies. It also gels cleverly with the previous adventure as many characters return, often in unexpected and amusing circumstances. Hans Zimmer's score is great, and the production design by Rick Heinrichs (Sleepy Hollow) is sensational - creepy and evocative, and a constant mixture of light and dark. Depp is once again irresistible as saucy Jack, with his mincing walk, darting eyes and often incomprehensible delivery, a kind of Jacques Tati meets Alice Cooper. The whole ensemble are great though, particularly Nighy (who looks as if he's wearing makeup but is really all CGI enhanced) as the gruesome Davy Jones, Arenberg and Crook as the two bickering sots from the first movie who used to be ghosts, and Skarsgard (who, unlike everybody else, actually gives a dramatic performance) as the tragic Bootstrap Bill. Top quality debauched family entertainment, har-har.