 Jack's back! With a swagger in his step and a flash of his gold in his teeth, salty seadog Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) sets sail for adventure and mischief in this eagerly awaited sequel to the 2003 blockbuster. Director Gore Verbinkski, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and the entire cast return for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, a lively if somewhat unevenly paced romp with plenty of buckle to swash and some truly awesome special effects. Fans of the first picture will find much to enjoy on this second voyage - not least Johnny Depp reprising his Oscar-nominated role as the most fey and quixotic pirate ever to sail the seven seas (well, four of them at least). Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, with matching tans, kindle a smouldering screen chemistry amidst all of the flotsam and jetsam, and Bill Nighy essays a truly memorable villain in the multi -tentacled form of Davy Jones. Supporting cast have been press-ganged back into service, and the screenplay strikes the right offbeat tone - yo ho ho and gallons of rum. Jack Sparrow owes a blood debt to Davey Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman. Unwilling to pay, he faces the terrifying prospect of eternal damnation, which Jack would rather avoid, if that's all right with Davey and his marauding minions. So Jack hatches a hare-brained scheme to track down the fabled Dead Man's Chest, rumoured to contain Davey's still beating heart. But first, Jack needs to locate the key to open the chest. Meanwhile, pirate hunter Lord Cutler Beckett condemns lovebirds Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) to death for their part in Sparrow's escape. Cutler promises them a full pardon if Will agrees to hunt down Jack and barter for his magical compass, which once belonged to soothsayer Tia Dalma. Will heads for the island of Tortuga, where a number of familiar faces including disgraced Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport) and double-act Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) and Pintel (Lee Arenberg) join the hunt. Once again, Depp steals the film with his flamboyant outbursts, facing almost certain death with an exasperated "bugger!" in the trademark cod-English accent. The screenwriters provide him with a treasure trove of sparkling one-liners. But Dead Man's Chest isn't completely ship-shape. The film noticeably takes on water in the second hour, and threatens to capsize under the weight of excess narrative, including a protracted reunion of Will and his long-lost father, Bootstrap Bill. Thankfully, the pace increases to a jaunty rate of knots for the thunderous finalé, which ends, teasingly, on a double cliff-hanger that hoists the mainsail nicely on Pirates Of The Caribbean 3, due to reach port in May 2007. | 
Movie double-acts come in all shapes and sizes ...and with varying degrees of success.
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