Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Directed by Gore Verbinski

Jack Sparrow: Come to join my crew, lad? Welcome aboard!
Elizabeth Swann:  [in man-drag] I'm here to find the man I love.
Jack Sparrow: [startled] I'm deeply flattered, son, but my first and only love is the sea.
Elizabeth Swann: Meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow.
Jack Sparrow: [turning around] Elizabeth!
[to Gibbs]
Jack Sparrow: Hide the rum.

Arhg, Mateys, sit yerselfs down and let me spin ye a tale, about Captain Jack Sparrow, and Davey Jones, and when the Flyin' Dutchmen come to pay ole Cap'n Jack a call....

Okay, International Talk Like a Pirate Day or not, that's all of that I'm doing.  Here is the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.  You knew, as wildly successful as the first movie was, it would spawn a sequel.  Actually, it spawned two, filmed back to back.

Pirate movies have fallen out of favor since America got jaded, somewhere between Korea and Vietnam, and the few that were made, Pulanski's Pirates, and Harlin's Cutthroat Island, bombed.

But there is a special magic to Pirates of the Caribbean; it has magic.  And never is that more apparent than here.

It has been thirteen years since Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) first stood at the helm of the Black Pearl, and the deal he made to achieve that bit of freedom has now come due.  He mortgaged his soul to Davey Jones (Bill Nighy) to become Captain, and now that price must be paid.

But we all know Jack, there is a plan, a scheme, a way to weasel out of any situation, he hopes.

But the supernatural shepherd of those drowned at sea is not the only problem here.  There is also Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Holland) Chairman of the East India Trading Company, the model for ruthless corporate exploitation until Exxon came along.  Beckett has the tools to get what he wants; warrants for the arrest and execution of Miss Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) and William Turner (Orlando Bloom).  They can go free IF they obtain something the East India Company wants; Jack Sparrow's compass.

But Jack needs it to locate a way out of his picklement.  So it is off to sea, with high adventure, playing with pirates, cannibals, a ship of the damned, ghostly dresses, and zombie monkeys.  The magic level ramps up as Jack seeks the aid of Tia Dalma (Naomi Harris), the voodoo priestess to end all voodoo priestesses.   And we get to see an old friend, fallen on hard times; Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport).

While this movie lacks the special magic of the first, it is still a rock solid movie, capable of standing on its own.  In fact, had it been made first, everyone would have raved about it.  Alas, such are the fickle fates of Hollywood.

Of course, it is an action and special effects extravaganza.  And since the crew of the Pearl was cured in the last movie, they needed new special effects to replace the skeletal Pirates.

Enter Davy Jones and his scurrilous crew.  Doomed to serve a hundred years before the mast, these dead sailors slowly pick up attributes of the sea creatures that surround them.  My favorite is the hammer headed on, though the whelk headed one who lost his head was funnier.  Of course, the real king of them all, any way you want to look at it, is Captain Davey Jones.  The squid headed monstrosity is wonderfully over done in every way.  The CGI makeup is amazing, so is Bill Nighy's over the top performance.  He really sells the menace of a man wedded literally, to the seas and to the damned. 

And key among the crew of the Flying Dutchman is Bootstrap Bill Turner (Stellan Skarsgård) dearly departed father of our hero.  Apparently Bootstap lifted himself out of his deep sixing by making a deal with Davey Jones.  So it is up to Will to not only save his lady fair, his friend, but now his father as well.  No longer is he the brash young headstrong fool; well, he can still be brash, and he is still young, and boy is he headstrong, but he has been tempered by his adventures; he is at least somewhat less a fool.

But more transformed than he is Elizabeth; it goes beyond dressing in boy drag and stowing away on a ship to trick her passage where she needs to go; she has learned to rely on herself.  Will has taught her swords play, and Jack has taught her to wait for the opportune moment.  She has left behind her innocence, and you know, she is missing it.  She doesn't want it back, but she knows exactly what she has lost.

Jack, though is just the same, a good man, whose chosen trade is pirate. I knew Johnny Depp had chosen Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones as one of the inspirations for his character of Captain Jack Sparrow.  Do you know who the other one was?  Pepe Le Pew.  You can see it, can't you?  You've got to laugh.

The movie doesn't stand alone.  It is dependant on the relationships of the first, and is merely the bridge to the last, but it is a fun tale, and an integral part of the best dang pirate franchise since Errol Flynn died.

"I've had it! I've had it with wobbly-legged, rum-soaked PIRATES!"  Elizabeth Swann.

AHOY, MATEYS!  High adventure on the High Seas
Brethren: Raised by Wolves.
Matelots: Raised by Wolves 
Treasure: Raised by Wolves
Wolves: Raised by Wolves
Ransom

Cutthroat Island
Swashbuckler
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
The Black Swan 
The Wake of the Red Witch 
The Sea Hawk

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older