Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

It’s been a while since the last adventure at sea starring the likes of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), his lovable fiancée Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and the charismatic and brash Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). This time around, director Gore Verbinski has given us more of the same, which is a good thing, considering the original. pirates of the Caribbean the movie was wonderful.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest revolves around a mysterious key that leads to an equally mysterious Chest. Several key players (essentially every major main character in the movie) have reason to go after said key and chest. Our main antagonist, at least on the surface, appears to be a certain Davy Jones, who rules the seas as long as the chest doesn’t fall into certain hands. Most of the film deals with the adventures that Jack, Will, and Elizabeth have as they seek to save their necks by capturing the chest and its contents.

The movie offers a lot of action/adventure, and the visuals really seem to get better with each passing blockbuster. This summer has had its share of impressive visual effects, and pirates does not lag behind. However, the adventure scenes at first seem a bit choppy and necessary just to advance the plot, but the movie never slows down from its fast pace and is able to bring back that fun touch that made the first movie so original. And pleasant

The plot has its moments that keep it from being completely predictable, and a lot of that stems from interesting developments in the relationships between some of the main characters. This adds another dimension that viewers can only enjoy to see explored. Other than that, the script is just as clever as its predecessor, if not as original in plot and setting. However, given the level of originality of the first pirates movie, that’s to be forgiven. Of course, not enough can be said for Johnny Depp’s performance, which is every bit as fantastic as the one in the first film.

If there are ever any glitches in the writing of the script or the direction, the producers know they can always count on the antics of Depp’s eccentric Captain Jack to be a crowd-pleaser. The joy he portrays in the character translates to moviegoers and it goes without saying that the entire “feel” of the film rests squarely on his shoulders. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting alone, as there are good performances all around him, most notably from Keira Knightley. Given her seemingly renewed enthusiasm for playing the role of her, we can only feel happy that the writers gave her role as much screen time as they did and feel equally grateful that she does. Knightley brings a certain high-quality “classy sexiness” to her role that makes it hard to imagine anyone else playing him. Bloom is fine as Turner, but nothing special.

Congratulations to the crew in general. The film is a worthy successor, and while I’m not a fan of the cliffhanger endings leading up to the third installment, this one offers enough problems to keep us guessing (and hoping) where the story takes us next.