Entertainment

10:37 AM CDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Grade: B-

Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgard. Directed by Gore Verbinski. Rated PG-13 (intense action, mild language, mild sexual references). In wide release with many midnight showings. 151 mins.

THE SETUP: Dead Man's Chest is broader, rowdier yet darker and more phantasmagorical than The Curse of the Black Pearl. The earlier film was not noted for its subtlety, but its freshness was engaging and often captivating. No way the No. 2 Pirates could duplicate that freshness. So it compensates – perhaps overcompensates – with excess.

THE CREW RETURNS: Once again, Johnny Depp plays infamous scoundrel Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom is earnest Will Turner and Keira Knightley plays feisty Elizabeth Swann. Will and Elizabeth are about to be legally hitched when law enforcers interrupt their nuptials and threaten them with the hangman's noose. They are arrested for conspiring with the enemy, i.e., the nefarious Captain Jack. But their lives will be spared if Will can find Captain Jack and take possession of a valuable compass.

BOTTOM LINE: The big question: Is Dead Man's Chest as much fun as 2003's The Curse of the Black Pearl? Those who feel like more is more will claim it's even better. More orderly types, such as your film critic, will eagerly await next summer's Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and hope that it will be just a wee bit better. In fact, more than just a wee bit.

Philip Wuntch