Film Review

08 January 2009 22:11 BST

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Directed by Gore Verbinski, at cinemas now, starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, running time 150 minutes.

In a nutshell…
Overblown, spectacular, fantastical, overlong, quirky

What's it all about?

Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow is in trouble with a bunch of evil buccaneers led by crustacean pirate lord Davy Jones himself, but old friends Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann are on hand to help out.

Who's in it?

Depp attacks his role with customary swagger, but Bloom and Knightley are as stilted as a pirate's wooden leg.

As an example…

Lovelorn Elizabeth stares into the eyes of her beau Will: "Let's just pull out our swords and start banging away at each other."

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

Johnny Depp got an Oscar nod for his Keith Richards-inspired performance in the original, but he shouldn't expect a repeat invite.

What the others say

"Depp is so mesmerising you’ll wish the film was called Pirate of The Caribbean," Total Film.

"Too long, and too wrapped up in its various plot contrivances to notice it's veering off course," Empire.

"You can carp about the generous running time or the plot similarity to The Empire Strikes Back, but who really cares when you've got a duel Errol Flynn would give his fencing arm for atop a rolling mill wheel," Sky Movies.

So is it any good?

The original Pirates film was a breath of fresh sea air due to its unpretentious and jaunty approach to blockbuster filmmaking, but the sequel walks the plank by taking itself too seriously. With a third instalment lined up don't expect the franchise to sink just yet though.

6/10

Matthew Champion

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