<i>Dead Man's Chest</i> - Review

Dead Man's Chest is an adventurous expedition in the series of Pirates of the Caribbean. The mission of Catain Jack Sparrow and crew is to find the dead man's chest and key, and use one to open the other. Dead Man's Chest revolves around a blood debt Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) owes to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), To escape this fate in Davy Jones' Locker and aboard the spooky Flying Dutchman ship, Sparrow must recover the key to the chest.

Apart from Captain Jack, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), a half-human half-squid who controls the mythological Kraken, also wants the chest, although for different reasons. The East India Trading Company's Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) arrests Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) before their wedding on false charges so that Will is motivated to beat Captain Jack. Elizabeth frees herself from Lord Beckett's clutches and joins the battle with the goal of saving Will.

It's an ultimate action-adventure creature-feature with heaps of action, adventure, fun, a touch of romance, a group of underwater pirates and monsters. A squadron of visual artists has created the special effects. Davy Jones emerges as the most amazing character with an octopus-head of twisting, pulsating tentacles.

The effects like Kraken -- an enormous sea monster that swallows ships at the request of the villain -- generate an impressive sense of scale. Director Gore Verbinski and writers Ted Elliott&Terry Rossio have presented the film as a full entertainment experience.

Captain Jack Sparrow fans can rest assured, Johnny Depp is phenomenal yet again, never failing to amuse or warm our hearts with dishonest honesty. Honestly. What I liked better than Captain Jack, however, was how they managed to bring nearly everyone of the cast of the first movie back into the second one, and have it all work very well. These are not cameo appearances, the people all continue to play an important role in the telling of the story, the events and the misfortunates of the characters. Suffice to say, it was a very crafty movie in that sense, and it certainly helped keep the standard, as set by the first movie, very high.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgård, Jack Davenport, Kevin McNally, Naomie Harris, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hollander
Genre: Action/Adventure Fantasy
Director: Gore Verbinski
Writing Credits: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio