“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Walt Disney Pictures)
In 2003 Johnny Depp hit the screen as Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” At first people didn’t know what to make of his mascara lidded, slurred speaking, swaggering pirate; but the more they watched him the more they liked him. The film ended up being a major moneymaker and made Depp a huge star.
Now it is time for a sequel and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” has arrived. Depp is back as Captain Jack and Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley also return as the young lovers Will and Elizabeth. This time out the Crown wants the “dead man’s chest” that belonged to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). Will is sent to capture it. Later Elizabeth escapes confinement and joins the search.
Jack is after the key that unlocks the chest and the chest itself. He goes up against Davy Jones to get it. Jones is a tentacle faced monster who has a huge squid at his beck and call. The whole movie is full of slimy faced villains and they get old fast.
Too much of the movie takes place at night that makes the action hard to follow. The pirates all look alike and are inter-changeable. The plot is difficult to follow as it veers off into tangents that seem to have no relation to the basic plot. There is a whole subplot about Will and his father that is completely confusing.
Depp is still slurring his words as Captain Jack and this makes his portion of the plot difficult to understand. He also seems to be off screen a lot in the film with Davy Jones and Will taking up too much space in the plot. Knightley has little to do and she doesn’t look as good as she did in the original. Since her role is mostly eye candy that is not a good thing to have happen.
Nighy appears to be having a great time as Davy Jones. Of course under all those tentacles he could be frowning to beat the band. Who knows! Still seeing him playing the organ with the tentacles that are hanging from his face makes for a pretty spectacular scene.
The movie is rated PG-13 for mild profanity and some violence.
The special effects in the movie are great, but they needed some human charm to make them more enjoyable and they didn’t get it. Depp, Bloom and Knightley are all on auto-pilot as they recreate their roles and there is nothing really new or interesting about this sequel.
The first “Pirates” wasn’t too good and this sequel is even worse. The plot, the darkness, the sliminess, the lackluster acting – all this makes for a movie mess. The film may make millions and millions at the box office but I will never be convinced of its entertainment value.
I scored “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” a sunken 4 out of 10.
