Who would have thought that when Disney announced a movie based on its “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride it would be the start of one of the most profitable movie franchises in history? 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a delightful summer blockbuster that delivered on all levels. It had a great sense of humor, fantastic special effects, and an Oscar-nominated performance by Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Of course, after the movie earned over $653 million worldwide, it was a foregone conclusion that a sequel would be made.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest continues the adventures of Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Sparrow now commands The Black Pearl. His crew are perplexed at his stranger-than-usual behavior. Back on land, Will and Elizabeth’s marriage is interrupted by Lord Cutter Beckett (Tom Hollander), who arrests them for aiding a known criminal — Jack Sparrow. Beckett cuts a deal with Will that puts the movie’s overly complicated setup in motion.
One of the few problems I had with the original movie was the running time. It ran just a bit too long. Dead Man’s Chest doesn’t really get started until about an hour into its 2 hour and 30 minutes. When the plot becomes clear and turns out to be fairly simple, it really begs the question, “Why did this take so long to set up?” Nearly all of the main characters from the first film return in some form or fashion — down to the monkey from the end credits. While it’s nice to see everyone back, the film’s momentum is dragged down with the unnecessary way that everyone is integrated into playing a role in the plot.
Depp clearly enjoys playing Jack Sparrow. His infectious enthusiasm for the role is the saving grace of Dead Man’s Chest. The chemistry between the original film’s trio of heroes — Will, Jack and Elizabeth — isn’t present because they’re separated throughout most of the movie. Depp is forced to carry the film on his own. He manages to do it, but somehow it doesn’t feel as fun as I expected it would be.
The first film included a lot of CGI effects, but they never intruded on the proceedings. The second film has quite a bit more computer generated action and, thankfully, it never gets in the way at all. (There are some sequences involving the mythological sea creature, the Kraken, that are jaw-dropping.) Bill Nighy, who plays Davy Jones, is rendered completely unrecognizable thanks to a beard of computer-generated tentacles. His performance is based more on vocal stylings than physical presence, but it still works.
While it might sound like I didn’t enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, I did. It just doesn’t possess the same charm of the original and it’s a bit bloated. At its core, it’s an enjoyable adventure movie. There’s just a lot of unnecessary whale blubber concealing it.
Hopefully, the faults will be rectified in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third movie in the series, which was shot back-to-back with Dead Man’s Chest.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
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