 | Studios: | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release: | July 7, 2006 | |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure, Adaptation and Sequel | |
| MPAA Rating: | PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images. |
I was skeptical that Disney could do a good sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean ... I was after all surprised that the first one was good AND a hit, given that pirate movies and movies based on theme parks were not in vogue at the time it was made.
Johnny Depp's wacky Jack Sparrow carries the movie, as usual. Jack Davenport's James Norrington has devolved into a drunk and actually ended up in Sparrow's crew. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are still figuring out what their relationship exactly is ... Sparrow's flirting with Swann muddles things up (Turner and Swann are a comfortable couple, Sparrow and Swann has more sparks).
The story once again has two main antagonists and both are new characters. Lord Cutler Becket, played by Tom Hollander, takes over Norrington's previous role as pursuer of the Black Pearl - and all pirates in general. The mythical Davy Jones, played by Bill Nighy, is the other antagonist. Davy Jones is the captain of the Flying Dutchman and has the key to what Sparrow and Turner are after in this movie... the Dead Man's Chest.
We learn that the Dead Man's Chest contains the heart of Davy Jones ... which he carved out after he was heartbroken. Davy Jones placed his heart in a wooden chest, buried it somewhere secret, but kept the key with him always. As long as the heart continues to beat, Davy Jones lives. The simplicity of this legend is that Jones would be forced to serve anyone who has the fortune to get hold of the heart.
Davy Jones' crew are either men who died at sea who chose to serve him rather than face what's in store for them in the "afterlife", or men who offered to serve him in exchange for favors. One of the latter turns out to be Will Turner's father who chose service to Jones rather than endure the curse of the black pearl. Jack Sparrow also made a deal with Davy Jones and at the start of this movie, he learns that his time to serve the Flying Dutchman is near.
Will's promise to save his father, Jack's attempts to escape his fate, and Norrington's hopes of reclaiming his honor, are the motives that drive all three to go after the chest. This results in a mad goose chase that is probably the funniest action scene in this movie, especially since they dropped in the two formerly cursed misfits from the Black Pearl's crew (the thin guy who used to pop out his eye, and his stockier friend) as wild cards.
At the end of this movie, there is no question that a third installment is coming... Norrington has turned over Davy Jones's heart to Becket who now has the means to rule the seas and terrorize pirates, Sparrow dies, but Turner and the Black Pearl crew learn he could still be saved after a visit to the priestess/witch(?) Tia Dalma (played by Naomie Harris), AND Captain Barbossa is back from the undead to head the Black Pearl in its next quest to retrieve Jack Sparrow from the world's end.
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