Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Mans Chest

The first Pirates of the Caribbean was a surprise hit, and a film that managed to do the impossible by making pirate film cool again. Thanks to its ingenious casting of Johnny Depp and almost impossibly entertaining nature the film won people over everywhere, so inevitably here we, a few years later with the first of two sequels. Thankfully though this film more than stands next to the original and dares to take the series to some pretty extreme and unexpected places whilst retaining the swashbuckling fun of the original. Make no mistakes Cap’n Jack Sparrow is back, and it was worth the wait! Picking up soon after the events of the first film Dead Mans Chest sees Jack being pursued by the enigmatic Davy Jones, brilliantly played by Bill Nighy behind a digital mask. Completely lifelike and real Davy Jones is a testament to CGI and a marvel to behold. Naturally it isn’t long before Will and Elizabeth get caught up in the action, but the plot is to convoluted to bother detailing here. Suffice to say the group end up searching for the titular Dead Mans Chest as the only way of stopping Davy Jones and his crew of the damned. Now the general rule of sequels is to top the original and DMC does that in nearly every department. Aside from the rather disconnected opening 10 minutes or so this is a wonderfully entertaining and enjoyable film. The sets and stunts are bigger, more characters introduced and plotlines stretched and reversed. The films does a good job of adapting the characters and furthering them, so much so that by the end nobody is in the same place they were at the start. It is a brave move to change the established relationships but one that pays off and leaves you wanting more. In fact one of the few criticisms of the film is that it feels like half of a bigger story. Don’t get me wrong, the ending is a great cliff-hanger but it (quite rightly) leaves you unsatisfied and with many threads left unresolved. Personally I enjoyed this film more than the original, Johnny Depp is fantastic as always and the humour in the film is great and fits alongside the darker moments, of which there are quite a few especially towards the end. Sure there are unnecessary bits in the film and it is very overindulgent and overlong but it’s such good swashbuckling cinema that it’s hard to fault it for that. My only other criticism is that Elizabeth and Will are not the most interesting of characters, they have no real edge or agenda and whilst the events of the film do add more depth to them often in their scenes you find yourself missing Jack or Davy Jones who really light up the screen whenever they are involved. The special effects are superb throughout as is Gore Verbinski’s subtle but excellent direction. It’s not easy to tell a complex story such as this so well and he manages it effortlessly. So if you feel like escaping life for a couple of hours down at the local cinema look no further than Dead Mans Chest, it offers more entertainment per buck that most blockbusters of the past few years and sets up the final film (to be released next year) perfectly. Bigger, dafter and more overblown than the original, this is a blockbusting extravaganza sure to satisfy all fans of the original and sets up next summer's finale perfectly.