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Johnny Depp once again dons his hat and eye liner as the notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the follow-up to the 2003 blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Part two of the epic trilogy begins shortly after the first movie ended. Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Will (Orlando Bloom) are about to get married—but the joyous occasion is interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company, who arrives with warrants for the couple’s arrest. They’re both sentenced to death for aiding in the escape of a condemned prisoner (Captain Jack, that is). But Beckett’s willing to make a deal. If Will can hunt down Jack and bring back his unusual compass, Beckett will pardon them all.
Meanwhile, Jack is in a pickle of his own. Years ago, he made a deal with Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). No, not the guy from the Monkees. The infamous captain who controls the sea. And, as it turns out, Jack owes Davy Jones an eternity of servitude—and it’s time to pay up.
The key to all of their troubles is…a key. And everyone’s racing to get to it first—Jack, Will, and even the former Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport).
This supernatural swash-buckling sequel has more of everything. Like more sword fights. And more grisly seamen, like Davy Jones’s crew—who look a bit like barnacle-covered Orcs. And more dark, scary (and often gruesome) scenes.
There are also more plot lines—some of which don’t seem to have much of a purpose. Especially in the beginning, there’s so much going on that it’s hard to keep track of who’s who…and who’s doing what…and why. It’s dizzying—and just plain confusing.
And finally, there’s more Jack Sparrow. I would have thought that this would be a good thing—but it’s not. Depp takes the eccentricities of his character—which, after the first movie, earned him a well-deserved Oscar nod—and magnifies them to the point of being goofy. Instead of being a cool, crazy pirate, he seems a little more like a klutzy rodeo clown.
I really wanted to love this movie—but I didn’t. While there’s still action, adventure, and a boatload of laughs (more than there should be, actually), Depp goes overboard, and the complicated storylines just make it too difficult to follow—and, unfortunately, I left the theater feeling disappointed.
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