Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

By Winston • July 13, 2006

Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley

Director: Gore Verbinski

Studio: Disney

Rating: PG-13

Official Bar Score:

Where to begin… by all rights a pirate film made by Disney based on a ride in it’s ever popular money vacuum Disneyworld should be garbage, but the folks that run Walt’s empire blew that theory out of the water with the first installment, creating a film that was more than a lot of fun to watch and got Johnny Depp (this writer’s personal favorite actor) an Oscar nomination. The inevitable sequel is upon us, and is already a record breaker, earning $135,000,000 plus at the box office over it’s first three days in theaters. But does it deserve the fanfare?

Yes indeed. This is the best film of the summer to this point and easily one of the most enjoyable adventure films I have seen in quite a long time. The story continues the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), Will Turner (Bloom), and Turner’s would be bride Elizabeth (Knightley) as they attempt to retrieve a key and a chest from Davey Jones and the Monkees (I couldn’t resist.) Actually, Davey Jones is the captain of a ghost vessel called the Flying Dutchman, and his crew is a group of damned souls who must work off whatever debt put them into captivity.

I’d rather not go too deep into the story because, while it gives the film purpose, the real meat of the film lies in the superior action sequences, some of the best I have seen in a very, very long time. The length of the film (2 hours and 25 minutes) gives the filmmakers plenty of time to create some elaborate scenes that are a bit longer than your average action sequences, allowing for the excitement to build and build until ending in a blaze of glory. Seriously, the worst of these sequences rivals the best in a lot of high profile action films. I haven’t had this much fun watching a film in months.

All that being said, there were little things that began to get on my nerves. There is some sexual tension that is rather out of place and resulted in no Keira Knightly nudity, so it annoyed me. And the film was just too damn long. There were certain parts that could have been trimmed by a few minutes here and there to make things run at a bit of a faster pace. But overall I really enjoyed the film. The series is two for two with me, so I am looking forward to the third one.

“I am here for the Oscar, give it to me or I will fuck you up.”