"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Or-
lando Bloom, Keira Knightley
and Bill Nighy
M

AA rating: PG-13 (for vio-
lence and intensity, some star-
tling images)
Rnning time: 145 minutes
Least sited for: those who
missed the original Pirates of
the Caribbean
Most sited for: those who
loved the original Pirates of the
Caribbean

Ah, the cinematic joys of summer vacation, when plotting, depth and intelligence give way to mindless, nonstop, action-packed fun. Such is the essence of "Pirates of the Car- ibbean: Dead Man's Chest"- the sweet, sugar center of an anticipated three-act, cinematic Oreo cookie.

And, as sugar-coated silliness goes, "Dead Man's Chest" can't get much sweeter (nor much less intellectually nutritious). This one is simply funloving eye candy that manages to nicely kill a few hours of your day.

"Dead Man's Chest" reunites swashbuckling, eye-shadowed Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) with reluctant pirate's son Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Jamaican governor's daughter, free-spirited heroine Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) for another round of high-seas, treasure-hunting adventure.

One word of caution: For those of you who missed the original "Pirates of the Caribbean"-well, don't bother now. You'll be utterly lost. Gone are the original's necessary introduction to these three characters. They are assembled here, under the flimsiest of excuses, to further the franchise. (The third and presumably final installment is anticipated for release in 2007.)

And while most of the original characters have been reunited for the sequel, what's lacking in "Dead Man's Chest" is any coherent reason for any of them to be doing much of anything. The premise is simple enough: Jack Sparrow is still trying to hang on to his life, although he owes a blood debt to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), the rather gruesome captain of The Flying Dutchman. Jack is facing an eternity of servitude to Jones, unless he can discover the treasure inside the infamously padlocked box-for which he searches nearly the whole twoand-a-half hours of the film's running time (a half-hour too long, really). Others are also searching, of course, and the race is on. Suffice it to say that "Dead Man's Chest" effectively, albeit vacuously, separates the first and last "Pirates" installments with considerable amounts of fun and frolic.

As sequels go, "Dead Man's Chest" falls somewhere in that hazy gray between the really great and the adequate, between the exceptional and the mildly mundane. It's not as talkinghead preachy as "Matrix II" but, on the other hand, it doesn't have the intelligent storyline capability of "Lord of the Rings II" or the groundbreaking dazzle of, say, "Terminator II."

Instead, "Dead Man's Chest" seems content to fill the screen with derring-do and action sequences, with lush Caribbean backdrops and the creepy, spooky things that the 13to 29year-old demographic set craves. (Davy Jones' slimy, tentacle-appendaged "beard" is one such delightfully gruesome touch. So is The Flying Dutchman ghost ship, which breaches the ocean's surface like some demented whale to do battle with the living.)

Depp once again inhabits Jack Sparrow with aplomb-although I suspect that even Jack's oft-applauded persona occasionally gets lost behind the film's full-throttled special effects blitz. "Dead Man's Chest" seems less a true swashbuckler than its predecessor, more grand action yarn la "Indiana Jones Meets the Curses of the Caribbean." (Hey, there's a thought.) Still, all in all, one can't help but come away smiling, knowing there are far worse ways to spend a few summer hours.

In a Nutshell: One of the summer's most anticipated flicks, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" is Hollywood's version of Chinese takeout. It pleasantly, sufficiently fulfills-but I suspect a few days from now we'll all be hungry again.