...And A Bottle Of Rum!

This thread contains spoilers for the review, so read it at your own risk!

Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest has been a movie worth waiting for this summer. All the cast members are back, including some of the supporting casts, together with a few new characters. I had a great belly laugh throughout the entire movie, although the cinema seats were hurting my back more than the laughter itself, I have to make a note not to get tickets at that particular cinema again.

The movie begins with the arrest of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan for aiding and abetting the escape of the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. The new power of the sea is the East India Company. Their spokesperson, whose name escapes me, makes a deal with Will to obtain the compass that Captain Jack Sparrow carries with him at all times. The compass (from the first movie) that doesn't point North. Of course, there comes Davy Jones, who is the supposed devil of the sea. He will offer you service on his ship The Flying Dutchman for all eternity in exchange to stay "alive" and sail the seas with him as his crew. The search for a mysterious-looking key that unlocks the Dead Man's Chest which contains Davy Jone's heart, is the underlying theme throughout the entire movie, which is set in adventure on the high seas, escape, magic, swash-buckling, thievery, trickery etc etc etc.

Orlando Bloom did rather well reprising his role as Will Turner, although not as much swash-buckling as I would have expected. It was more rolling and tumbling around, together with escaping and running, not much acting skills involved there really. Somehow he has been typecasted as one of the following roles: A blacksmith; Holding a bow and arrow; Holding a sword or two; All of the above.

Keira Knightley's character has become darker. She seems to have taken charge of things as compared to her demure, lady-like screamer role in the first movie. In this movie, she can actually fight with swords, is devious and conniving and she moves towards having the heart of a pirate, especially seen towards the end of the movie.

Johnny Depp surpassed his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, again with his ditsy moves, shash-shaying himself across the screen when making his point. Word bantering with his crew and enemies to confuse them. With all his antics and prancing, it's no wonder his character has earned him a most interesting reputation. The make-up done on him with all the eyes, when he was captured by the tribe of cannibals was amazing!

I was amazed by the costumes and how crustacean they made it look, like sea animals: crabs, starfish, hammerhead shark, octopus etc. Even the CGI for Davy Jones (yes, he was CGI, and the actor wasn't wearing any masks or props), was based on the mannerisms of actor Bill Nighy, it was most impressive! Having The Flying Dutchman the option of sailing the seas or going underwater like a submarine was rather creative also.

However, there were loop-holes in the story. For one, how did the Black Pearl land on the island of cannibals and get caught? How did Captain Jack Sparrow end up being their great chief? Was it because he could speak their language? Who was Davy Jones in love with before he became this creature? I'm guessing that all questions will be answered in the third and final movie in this trilogy, due out in May 2007.

The music was done by Hans Zimmer (Hannibal, The Da Vinci Code) and it really captured the moods and comedy of the movie. Some of the pieces were recycled from the first film, mostly the theme and all, but a few new pieces have been added. I particularly enjoyed the piece where Davy Jone's was playing the pipe organ with his face tentacles, it reminded me of one of J S Bach's Toccata's, perhaps just the faint trace of the theme.

There are critics saying that this second movie isn't as great as the first movie and the plot of it didn't really move much. If you're going to listen to the critics, you'll never watch anything. Each and every movie will have something different for everyone. If you think it's worth watching, then go watch it already. Don't get swayed by crappy reviews from critics who cannot appreciate a good adventure movie.

And finally, do remember to stay until the end of all the credits, there's a short snippet of what happened to the dog that ended up being left behind on the island of cannibals.

8 out of 10