Pirates of the Caribbean:

Dead Man's Chest

Continuing after Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest starts off with Elizabeth's (Keira Knightley) and Will's (Orlando Bloom) wedding interrupted by the pair of them getting arrested. The new guy in charge of Port Royal wants something Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has and decides to use his friendship (if you can call it that) with the two in order to get it.  He sends Will to go find Jack to trade a pardon for Jack's compass. In return Will will get his and Elizabeth's freedom.

Jack on the other hand is in the middle of looking for a key that will open ... something. It's obvious that something is bothering him, because the crew is ready to mutiny (again) and he doesn't have a heading. He is then visited by a man covered in barnacles. It turns out that it is Bootstrap Bill Turner (Stellan Skasgard), or Will's dad. He has a message for Jack from Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). Time is up and Jones wants Jack dead. So they go for land as fast as the Pearl can go and end up on an island where Jack is made a god. This is where Will finds him and saves what's left of the crew from the cannibals.

Reunited once again Will tells Jack that Lizzy is about to face the gallows if he doesn't bring back the compass. Always one for being complicated, Jack has Will help him find the key in order to trade for the compass. They go upriver to a medicine woman type person (Naomie Harris) who points them in the direction of the Flying Dutchman, Jones's ship, because that is where the key is. They send Will aboard and he is captured. Jones makes a deal with Jack that if he comes back in three days with 99 other souls he won't kill Jack.

Jack agrees and heads for Tortuga and discovered not only Norrington (Jack Davenport), who is now an outlaw, but also find Elizabeth, who escaped from Port Royal with exactly one pardon for three people (someone has to go over basic arithmetic again). Jack tells her the only way to save Will is to find the Dead Man's Chest. In this chest is Jones' heart. If they have that they can barter for Will's life back.

Will, on the ship is reunited with his father and finds out where the key is by playing some weird dice game. He then steals the key and jumps ship. He is rescued by a passing ship which is then attacked by the Kraken, the giant octopus beast that is controlled by Jones.

Jones realizes that Jack is after the chest and goes for it, with Will hitching a ride.

Jack, Liz and Norrington find the chest, right when Will shows up with the key. There a extremely cool fight scene between Jack, Will and Norrington, when each one of them wants the chest. Will wants to kill Jones, to free his father from the curse; Jack wants it to... I'm not sure, probably to barter his life back, but he doesn't want Will to kill Jones, because no one will control the Kraken after Jones is dead, and Norrington wants it to trade for a pardon. While they fight Liz yells and throws rocks at them, instead of watching the chest and it is stolen. Right when Jones' walking barnacle crew show up for the chest.

After the resulting confusion, it is Norrington that walks away with both the pardon and the heart, while Jack thinks he has the heart. They make it back to the Pearl to be attacked by the Kraken. Liz chains Jack to the ship, because it's him the Kraken wants not the rest of them. Jack gets out of the chain only to be swallowed by the Kraken, but we all know he's not dead, because there would be no third movie. Norrington hands over the heart to the chump guy who arrested Will and Liz at the beginning which makes no sense, because he already has a pardon. The others make it back to the swamp witch lady who tells them there is a way to save Jack but they need a Captain who's been to the word's end. Enter Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush)? What the hell?

This movie was good right up to the end. The ending ruined the movie. It didn't end!! I know they're making a third one, but at least you could've ended the second one first. I was expecting the words 'to be continued' to show up. You don't do that in movies! Everyone knew there was going to be three Lord of the Rings movies, but each one had an ending. (12 in the case of Return of the King). It should've ended. I think each movie should be a stand alone. This is not a trilogy of books here.

And what's even worse, is that nothing really happened in the movie. It was like this entire film is just setting up the third one.  I mean, sure it was entertaining and the special effects were awesome and all, but there was nothing going on.  What really happened in this movie? Will found his father, Jack got eaten and Liz is more annoying than ever. Especially with the semi attempt to seduce Jack.

And Jack! They took away the coolness that is Captain Jack Sparrow. Well, he's still cool, but not as cool in the first movie. In the first film he got out of any situation that was thrown at him, all while doing a drunken little stagger. Here, one of his master plans was rowing away. What? He either fights until he wins or tires to barter/ talk his way out of a situation, not jump in a rowboat a row away.  And what's all this about him owing Jones' a debt so he can be the captain for thirteen years? That doesn't sound like the Captain Jack Sparrow I know.

The good thing though, is that Norrington got a lot cooler in this film, if not smarter, and so did Will, but that wasn't that hard.

If only they ended it properly.

Grade: 6/10