Movie Review – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, POTCDMC is a sure fire bet to make oodles of money for Disney this summer. Captain Jack Sparrow finds himself pursued by Davy Jones himself for an unpaid debt. Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann get caught up in the ride with some familiar faces and some not so familiar faces appearing along the way.
The main three characters are back, played by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Kira Knightly respectively. Johnny Depp is so good as Sparrow, everything he does is comic and yet believeable. He has even got a certain way that he runs that is comical. Orlando Bloom is once again, a swashbuckling do-gooder who believes in keeping his word and doing whats right. Kira Knightly wields the sword as well if not better than Orlando. Boasting a deep tan, Knightly definatly has a beauty not so much in the classical sense but more in the phoar sense….. as in phoar look at her….
Additonal cast members include the returns of both Jack Davenport as ex-commodore Norrington and Johnathan Pryce as Governor Weatherby Swann. Bill Nighy is Davey Jones, more fish/octopus/crab than man.
The plot is simple enough with a couple of twists here and there. Unfortunatly, it is a To Be Continued rather than a complete adventure but Hollywood doesn’t seem to grasp that you can make movies back to back without them being parts of the same story.
The stunts are excellent, with several original ideas that work really well and some parts inspired from other movies, which still work well.
Everything about the movie looks the part, with the ships looking amazing, especially how the Flying Dutchman appears. Creatures look convincing and everything is believable.
If truth be told, whenever Jack Sparrow is on the screen, Johnny Depp steals the show without fail. With Sparrow off screen, the other actors carry the movie excellently. While the movie is a long one at 150 minutes (thats 2 1/2 hours for those watching in black and white) I didn’t once find that the movie slowed down or had become laboured.
With plently of laughs as well as thrills, POTCDMC is sure to be a huge hit and it deserves to. Its a great adventure harkening back to the days of Burt Lancaster and The Crimson Pirate.
