Movie Review – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
The 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a smash hit.
The characters were fantastic, the cast was great, the action scenes were outstanding, and the story itself was very good. When you combine all of that and make a fortune selling toys and accessories from the film, you know that there’s going to be a sequel. It’s just a matter of time before the pirates would return to the big screen.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was released three years later in 2006. The sequel brought back almost the entire cast from the previous film. This time we’re introduced to the unforgiving Lock Beckett, the mysterious Tia Dalma, and the terrifying Davy Jones. Throw in more action, more of the supernatural, a massive and incredibly powerful sea creature, and perhaps even a confusing storyline until you understand all of the details, and that sums up the new additions to the sequel.
Like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest was also directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. This time around the film’s score was conducted by Hans Zimmer. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom is Will Turner, and Keira Knightley returns to her role as Elizabeth Swann. Like in the previous film, supporting them are Jack Davenport as James Norrington, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Jonathan Pryce as Governor Weatherby Swann, and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa.
The new additions to Dead Man’s Chest include Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill Turner, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett, and Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest begins a year after the events in The Curse of the Black Pearl. Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) are trying to get married when their wedding ceremony is interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), leader of the East India Trading Company, and his soldiers. Both Elizabeth and Will are placed under arrest and charged with assisting Captain Jack Sparrow, a crime that will send both of them to the gallows. There’s a third arrest warrant for former Commodore James Norrington, but he resigned from the Royal Navy months ago and is nowhere to be found.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Meanwhile, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is at an evil island, a place where people are routinely tortured and killed. Jack Sparrow makes a daring escape in a wooden coffin and uses a dead man’s leg to paddle himself to the Black Pearl floating nearby. On board the Pearl the crew is beginning to grow restless over the lack of treasure, and Jack reveals the item that he stole from the evil island. It’s not a key but rather a drawing of a key, proof that a fabled key exists and will lead them to something far greater than gold or jewels.
Back in Port Royal, Lord Beckett offers Will Turner a proposition. If Will is able to acquire the compass that Jack Sparrow carries with him at all times, a compass that points towards whatever the holder desires most, then Will and Elizabeth will receive a pardon for their crimes. To help convince Sparrow to give up the compass, Lord Beckett is offering to give Sparrow Letters of Marque that will basically make him a free man and a British privateer. Will is highly skeptical that Jack will accept the proposal. With his and Elizabeth’s life on the line, Will Turner leaves to find Jack Sparrow and acquire his special compass for Lord Beckett.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
On the Black Pearl, Jack’s compass continues pointing in several directions, reflecting the pirate’s many desires in life, and he’s unable to chart a course. Frustrated, he heads to a lower deck to acquire more rum. Down in the rum cellar he encounters Bootstrap Bill Turner (Stellan Skarsgard). Bootstrap Bill is covered with sea creatures and looks more mythological than human. He tells Jack that after spending years at the bottom of the sea, pinned by the immense pressure of the water, he gladly accepted Davy Jones’s proposal of serving one hundred years on board his ship, the Flying Dutchman, in exchange for being “rescued” from his suffering at the bottom of the sea.
Bootstrap Bill warns Jack Sparrow that he also made a deal with Davy Jones, and Jones raised the Black Pearl for Sparrow to captain. If Jack refuses to serve his hundred year term on board the Flying Dutchman, then Davy Jones will send a leviathan and kill the pirate. Bootstrap Bill gives Jack Sparrow the “black spot” and then leaves the Black Pearl just as mysteriously as he appeared.
The threat of the leviathan scares Jack Sparrow to the core. He immediately wakes the crew and orders the ship to the nearest shore. During the chaos on deck Jack loses his hat. He’s determined to stay out of the water and therefore out of reach of both Davy Jones and his “pet” sea creature.
The next morning a French merchant ship spots Jack Sparrow’s hat floating in the water. Two of the crewman pull it out of the water and wear it, pretending to be soldiers. Suddenly their ship lurches and the men believe that the hat is cursed. They try to get rid of it but it’s too late. A massive leviathan quickly destroys the ship with a powerful blow.
Will Turner begins his hunt for Jack Sparrow. He heads to Tortuga and begins asking people if they’ve seen either the captain or the Black Pearl. It seems like a lost cause until a sailor tells Will that he saw the Black Pearl stranded on a deserted beach. He gives Will a ride to the island of Pelegosto. Sure enough, the Black Pearl is well out of the water and secured on the beach. The massive ship clearly isn’t going anywhere. The strange thing is that the ship itself appears to be deserted.
Will heads into the dense jungle and finds Cotton’s parrot. The parrot squawks, “Don’t eat me!” Puzzled as to why the bird would make such a statement, Will heads further into the jungle and finds Mr. Gibbs’s flask. Suddenly cannibals jump out, quickly capture Will Turner, and knock him out with a tranquilizer dart. When he awakens he finds himself being carried on a long pole into the cannibals’ camp.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
The chief of the cannibals turns out to be none other than Captain Jack Sparrow. Apparently the cannibals believe that Sparrow is their god in human form. Sparrow convinces the cannibals not to eat Will, and he’s taken away and placed in a human bone cage along with other crew members of the Black Pearl.
Back in Port Royal, Governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce) frees Elizabeth from prison and wants to send her back to London where he’s arraigning to give her a fair trial for her piracy crimes. Instead, Governor Swann is arrested by the docks and Elizabeth Swann secretly infiltrates the governor’s mansion. Elizabeth surprises Lord Beckett and tries to negotiate with him. While Lord Beckett doesn’t reveal exactly why he wants Jack Sparrow’s magical compass, he does mention that it’s NOT for the pirate treasure back at Isla de Muerta. He signs the Letters of Marque and Elizabeth flees the building.
Out in the water, Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) are in a row boat, along with the prison dog who is still holding the keys to the cell doors, when they spot the Black Pearl on the island of Pelegosto. They make it to the beach and discover that the ship is deserted. The pirates begin the process of dragging the massive ship back into the water and making it seaworthy again.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
In the bone cage, Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally) explains that the cannibals believe that Jack Sparrow is their god in human form, and they’re preparing to roast his body so that their god will be a spirit once again. Once the drums stop beating, the roasting begins. When Will asks about the other crew members from the Black Pearl, Mr. Gibbs tells them that their cages weren’t constructed until *after* they arrived, implying that the bones are the bones of their former ship mates.
In a long action sequence, Jack Sparrow escapes from the cannibal camp while the pirate crew members escape from their bone cage. They all use their wits, skills, strength, and some luck to escape the clutches of the cannibals. Pintel and Ragetti have the Black Pearl partially in the water by the time Will Turner and the pirates arrive at the ship. They quickly move it the rest of the way as Jack Sparrow is running down the beach and chased by a horde of cannibals. After Sparrow escapes, the cannibals turn their sights on the jail dog and begin chasing it along the beach.
On the Black Pearl, Will tries to get the compass from Jack, but Jack mostly ignores him. Jack instead offers to give Will the compass if Will promises to help find the key on the drawing.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh leaves Port Royal and the crew members discover a woman’s dress. Elizabeth Swann is stowing away on the ship and disguised as a male crew member. The crew is concerned that the dress means that their ship is haunted. Throwing the dress overboard might anger the spirit while keeping the dress might cause bad luck for the ship. The captain tells them to keep the dress and instead concentrate on finding the woman who it belongs to as she’s probably naked. This gets the crew moving and they eagerly start looking for the stowaway, forgetting about any curses from the woman’s dress.
The Black Pearl avoids deep water and stays in the shallows when sailing to the opposite side of the island of Pelegosto. They use row boats to row up the Pantano River, seeking a mysterious woman who lives in a swampy bayou. Fortunately for them, the island’s cannibals fear the spirits and avoid this section of the island.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
In one of the shacks lives Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), a voodoo priestess. She’s pleased to see Jack Sparrow again, though she seems particularly interested in meeting William Turner. Her greeting hints that there’s more to Will’s future than we believe. After delivering a payment in the form of Captain Barbossa’s undead monkey, Will inquires about locating the key in the drawing. Tia reveals that the key goes to a certain chest and then she begins to tell them about Davy Jones. The tale with Davy Jones is that he was deeply in love with a woman, or he was in love with the sea itself, Tia claims that both versions of the story are true. Anyway, Davy Jones was so in love that he cut out his own heart and placed it in the chest. The key for the chest is kept with Davy Jones at all times.
Just as Jack Sparrow is ready to leave, Tia looks at his hand and sees the “black spot”. Tia tells them that Davy Jones cannot make port or step on land but once every ten years. She gives Jack Sparrow a jar of dirt so that he may carry some land with him.
The Black Pearl sails to the site of the wreck of the French ship that was destroyed by the leviathan. What’s left of the wreckage is stuck on a group of rocks. Jack Sparrow sends Will Turner out to the shipwreck to look for Davy Jones. If he’s captured, he tells Will to tell Davy Jones that he’s there to settle Jack Sparrow’s debt.
Will arrives at the wrecked ship and finds a couple of crew members still alive, though they’re clearly shocked by whatever attacked their ship. The Flying Dutchman suddenly rises from the water and members of Davy Jones’s crew capture everybody on the wreck. Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), part man, part lobster & part octopus, arrives and offers the captured sailors either death or a chance to serve as a member of his crew for one hundred years. When it’s Will’s turn, he mentions that he’s there to settle Jack Sparrow’s debt. Davy Jones is in shock and insulted by the offer, and the captain quickly spots the Black Pearl floating nearby.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Davy Jones and his crew suddenly appear on the Black Pearl, and Jones reminds Jack Sparrow that he has a debt to pay him. Davy raised the Pearl and allowed Jack to captain the ship for thirteen years, fulfilling his part of the agreement. Jack talks his way into trading his soul for the souls of one hundred men to serve on board the Flying Dutchman in his place. Davy Jones agrees and gives Jack Sparrow three days to bring him the sailors. He keeps Will Turner on the Flying Dutchman as a “down payment”. Jones seals the deal by removing the “black spot” from Jack’s hand.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
On board the Edinburgh, stowaway Elizabeth Swann needs to somehow convince the captain of the ship to sail to Tortuga. She tricks the crew by using wires and making it appear that the dress is actually haunted and flying around the ship. The dress knocks over a lamp which breaks open and the fire quickly burns in some oil that was already placed on the deck. The burning oil spells out the word Tortuga. They see this as a sign and sail to the pirate island.
In a tavern on Tortuga, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Gibbs are busy recruiting members to serve on their ship, though in actuality they are unknowingly going to be sacrificed to Davy Jones. They’re having a hard time finding members and have only signed up four sailors. Up walks James Norrington (Jack Davenport), a broken and down man, a former officer of the Royal Navy. Norrington clearly still carries a grudge against Jack Sparrow, but despite that he’s still willing to serve on the Black Pearl. The former Commodore starts a fight inside the tavern and is eventually tossed out into the mud. Outside, Elizabeth Swann approaches him and wonders what happened to the man she was originally going to marry.
The Flying Dutchman is sailing through a storm when Mr. Turner is called to tend to a rope. Both Bootstrap Bill and Will Turner answer the order and fight each other for the rope. They both quickly realize that they are related, one is father and one is the son. During their argument over who’s job it was at the rope, the cannon that was being lifted falls and injures several crew members. The Flying Dutchman‘s first mate orders Will to be lashed for his error, but Bootstrap Bill tries to stop it and take his place at being punished. Davy Jones interrupts and orders Bootstrap Bill to give his son five lashes, which he does so.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Below deck, Bootstrap Bill explains to Will the process of serving an oath to Davy Jones, and that once you start there’s no ending it until the debt is paid. Will tells him that he swore no such oath to Davy Jones and he’s there to search for a key that Davy keeps hidden somewhere on the Flying Dutchman. One of the crew member’s recognizes the drawing of the key and claims that it goes to something called the dead man’s chest. The crew member tells Will to open the chest and stab the heart, but not to do so because “. . . the Dutchman needs a living heart or there’ll be no captain, and if there’s no captain, there’s no one to have the key.” When asked where either the key or the chest are located, the crew member replies that they’re both hidden.
Back in Tortuga, Elizabeth Swann meets with Jack Sparrow before the Black Pearl sails again. She tells him that all she wants is to find Will, and Jack tells her that Will has been forced to join Davy Jones’s crew on board the Flying Dutchman. Jack tells Elizabeth that there’s a chest with Davy Jones’s heart, and whomever commands that chest can get Davy Jones to do whatever he or she wants, even if it includes saving Will Turner from his fate of serving on the Dutchman. When asked how they find the chest Jack reveals his special compass, a compass that points to the thing that the person wants most.
Knowing that information, Elizabeth holds the compass and the dial finally points in the direction of the chest. Jack Sparrow takes note of which way to sail and the Black Pearl leaves port. Both Elizabeth Swann and James Norrington join as members of the crew on the Black Pearl.
In Port Royale, Lord Beckett holds Governor Swann prisoner and informs him that his daughter was seen boarding the Black Pearl. He has dispatched ships with orders to hunt and destroy that ship. To save his daughter, Lord Beckett wants Governor Swann to send the King of England positive review notes about Lord Beckett and also swear his loyalty to the East India Trading Company.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Back on the Flying Dutchman, Will Turner challenges Davy Jones in a game of Liar’s Dice. He wagers years of service on the Dutchman in exchange for the key in his drawing. Davy Jones accepts the wager and shows that the key has been hidden around his neck. Just as the game begins, Bootstrap Bill joins and wagers his soul and indefinite service on the Dutchman. Bootstrap Bill intentionally loses to save his son from serving with Davy Jones. After the game Bootstrap Bill realizes that Will only challenged Davy Jones so that he could learn the location of the key.
That night, as Davy Jones is asleep, Will Turner sneaks into the captain’s cabin and steals the key to the dead man’s chest. On the main deck, Bootstrap Bill gives his son a knife and tells him to leave the Flying Dutchman while he still can. He reveals that it’s always been in his blood to die at sea, and when the crew discovers that he helped Will steal the key and flee, there’s nothing that they can do that will really punish the man.
On the Black Pearl, Mr. Gibbs realizes that Will Turner was working for Lord Beckett when he was trying to get the compass from Jack Sparrow. They quickly conclude that Lord Beckett himself also wants the dead man’s chest. Lord Beckett acquiring the chest and therefore controlling the sea will be doomsday to all sailors who cross his path.
Out at sea, Will Turner is picked up by the Edinburgh. The captain is suspicious as to how a sailor could have made it that far out to sea, and he believes that Will may not be up to any good. Just then one of the crew members spots a pirate ship on the horizon, and it’s the Flying Dutchman.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Davy Jones is furious that Will Turner stole his key and tried to get away, and Bootstrap Bill helped him in the process. He has his crew summon the Kraken, a massive leviathan. He forces Bootstrap Bill to watch as the massive sea creature destroys the Edinburgh, presumably killing his son as well. They pick up a handful of survivors and bring them onto the Dutchman, but Will Turner is not one of them. Davy Jones orders Bootstrap Bill to the ship’s brig and for his crew to murder the survivors from the Edinburgh.
Unknown to the crew, Will Turner survived the attack and hides himself on board the Flying Dutchman. Davy Jones no longer believes that his sacred chest is safe, so he orders his ship to Isla Cruces to recover it.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
The Black Pearl is the first ship to reach Isla Cruces. Pintel and Ragetti guard the row boat while Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann and James Norrington use the compass and discover the buried chest. They quickly recover it, but none of them have the key, so it cannot be unlocked.
The Flying Dutchman arrives at Isla Cruces, but Davy Jones is unable to step foot on land for another ten years. He’s forced to send his crew to recover the chest from the pirates. Davy sinks the ship (to the shock of Pintel and Ragetti watching from the shore), and his men make an underwater march onto the island.
Will Turner suddenly arrives on the island, and both Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow are impressed that he’s still alive, supposedly being a member of Davy Jones’s crew and all. Will takes the key and tries to unlock the dead man’s chest with the intention of stabbing Davy Jones’s heart, but Jack stops him with his sword. If Davy Jones is dead, then who is going to call off the Kraken and stop it from hunting Jack Sparrow? Will draws Elizabeth’s sword and holds it against Jack, telling him that he intends on keeping his word of freeing his father from Davy Jones’s bond. James Norrington then draws his sword, claiming that if he delivers the dead man’s chest to Lord Beckett, then he’ll get his life back in the Royal Navy.
So there we go. Jack Sparrow needs the dead man’s chest to stop the Kraken. Will needs the dead man’s chest to free his father. And Norrington needs the dead man’s chest to become a prestigious officer again in the Royal Navy.
A three-way sword fight begins with all three men fighting for both the key and the dead man’s chest itself. The fight begins on the beach but quickly spreads onto the island and to an old mill with a water wheel. They fight their way up the structure and Norrington and Will end up fighting on the giant water wheel as it detaches from its base and begins rolling across the island. Jack Sparrow gets trapped in the wheel and he stays with the action.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Back on the beach, Davy Jones’ crew climbs out of the water and Pintel and Ragetti try to run off with the dead man’s chest. Elizabeth chases after them and eventually catches them in the jungle. Just as they’re about to attack her, all three of them are attacked by the crew from the Dutchman. The three pirates flee through the jungle while being chased by the underwater crew.
At one point Jack Sparrow gains control of both the key and the dead man’s chest. While he’s alone in the jungle, he opens the chest and steals Davy Jones’s beating heart, hiding it in his shirt. He then locks the chest and flees back to the beach. In the row boat he places the heart of Davy Jones into the jar of dirt that he received from Tia Dalma.
Everybody makes it back to the beach. While they’re fighting the crew from the Flying Dutchman, James Norrington is in the row boat and steals the Letters of Marque that were stored in Jack Sparrow’s jacket. He also notices the loose dirt in the boat, implying that Jack hid something important in his jar of dirt.
Just as the crew from the Dutchman are closing in on the pirates, James Norrington takes the dead man’s chest and runs into the jungle, yelling for everybody else to head back to the Black Pearl. Norrington eventually falls and the crew of the Dutchman take control of the dead man’s chest, carrying it with them back to Davy Jones on the Flying Dutchman.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Out at sea, the Flying Dutchman surfaces beside the Black Pearl. The crew of the Dutchman are menacing, but Jack Sparrow defies them and taunts Davy Jones with his jar of dirt. Davy Jones has had enough of Jack Sparrow and he orders the Dutchman to attack the Black Pearl. The Pearl tries to flee as the Dutchman fires its front cannons. They have they wind to their backs and the Pearl is the faster of the two ships.
The Black Pearl is out of range of the Flying Dutchman‘s cannons and the crew thinks they’re in the clear. But Davy Jones isn’t finished yet. He orders his crew to call for the Kraken to attack the Pearl.
The Kraken nudges the Black Pearl, knocking Jack Sparrow’s jar of dirt onto a lower deck. The jar breaks open and Jack realizes that the heart is no longer there. It’s missing. The Kraken’s tentacles climb up the sides of the Pearl. Will has the crew fire all the cannons simultaneously, hitting all the tentacles at the same time. This wounds the Kraken and it retreats, but they know that it’s going to return.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Will Turner plans for the next attack by putting all the explosives along with the rum into a giant cargo net, and suspending that above the main deck. They notice that Jack Sparrow has slipped away in a row boat, but there’s nothing they can do about him. The Kraken returns and the crew tries to fight back, waiting until the creature is high enough before they can detonate the explosives. Jack Sparrow has a change of heart and returns to the Pearl to help fight the Kraken. He assists Elizabeth and fires a round into the explosives, heavily wounding the leviathan at a cost of heavily damaging the Black Pearl.
The Black Pearl cannot withstand another attack by the Kraken. Elizabeth is also aware that the leviathan is really after Jack Sparrow. As the crew is abandoning ship, Elizabeth seduces Jack and kisses him, locking him to the ship’s mast in the process. It’s payback for Jack tricking Will into serving on the Flying Dutchman with Davy Jones. Will sees her kiss him and becomes alarmed, not knowing why she’s doing such an act. The crew rows away from the ship and Elizabeth tells them that Jack elected to stay behind on the Pearl to give them a chance at escaping the Kraken.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Jack Sparrow uses oil from a lamp to escape from the iron bracelet, but he’s still stuck on the disabled Black Pearl. The massive Kraken rises and Jack comes face to face with the mighty beast. Knowing that his time is up, Jack Sparrow draws his sword and charges the Kraken, going down with a fight. The crew can only watch in horror as the Kraken consumes Jack Sparrow and drags the Black Pearl beneath the water.
On the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones watches as the Black Pearl is finally destroyed. He then has his crew open the dead man’s chest, but he furious when he sees that it’s empty.
In Port Royal, James Norrington pays Lord Beckett a visit. He presents the Letters of Marque, with Norrington’s name written on them, of course. Norrington also presents the heart of Davy Jones, a far better prize than merely Jack Sparrow’s compass or the dead man’s chest itself.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – (c) Buena Vista Pictures
Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Mr. Gibbs, and the remaining survivors of the Black Pearl voyage to Tia Dalma’s home to mourn the loss of Jack Sparrow. They all drink a toast to Jack’s honor, all that is except for Elizabeth. She seems to be rather distraught by her feelings, wondering if she really did in the end care for the pirate and his evil ways.
When Will Turner comments about doing anything to bring back Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma asks if it’s true, if they really would do anything to bring him back to life again. She asks if they’d be willing to sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond that to fetch their captain. Mr. Gibbs and the rest of the crew agree to do whatever it takes. Tia tells them that if they’re going to survive the “weird and haunted shores” at a place known as World’s End, then they’re going to need somebody to guide them, somebody who knows those very waters.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ends with Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), alive and well again, walking down the steps at Tia Dalma’s house, surprising the group of pirates.
A scene after the credits shows the prison dog as the new leader of the cannibal tribe on the island of Pelegosto.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest a good movie and worthy sequel to the previous film?
One thing we know for sure is that Dead Man’s Chest is certainly a long film, perhaps a little bit too long with too many mundane details. The general consensus is that maybe thirty to sixty minutes of the film should have been removed, and the rest of the story more focused and concentrated on the main plot.
Many of the elements that we loved in The Curse of the Black Pearl are present in Dead Man’s Chest. Unfortunately, some of those elements like the sword fights and Jack Sparrow’s clever escapes are a bit over the top. For example, the escape sequence from the cannibals on the island of Pelegosto was simply too comical and unrealistic. Both Jack Sparrow and the pirate crew should have died when they crashed down the ravine.
Another example is when the three-way sword fight transitions onto the massive water wheel on Isla Cruces. The three-way fight was actually pretty cool, but the part involving the water wheel was just too extravagant. It wasn’t necessary. It was too much of a distraction considering all of the other action already taking place on the island.
To me, one of the best parts of Dead Man’s Chest was Davy Jones and his crew of half humans, half sea creatures. The make-up and special effects bringing those characters to life was simply brilliant, and the attention to detail was amazing. Those were definitely some creepy characters that crossed the threshold of terrifying and spectacular.
Let’s not forget about the Kraken. Now that was nasty sea creature!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – movie trailer
As a whole, Dead Man’s Chest was still a good film that had several strong points from the supernatural and voodoo elements to the leviathan to the ghostly ship the Flying Dutchman. This is also a film that is chock full of details and important plot elements, and you’ll probably be watching the film two or three times before you understand it completely and are ready for its sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
That being said, the more you understand this film and understand the finer points, then chances are better that you’ll enjoy the film and the pirates experience with the other films in the series. But you’ll have to work for it here. Dead Man’s Chest has a running time of a nearly exhausting 151 minutes, and you’ll have to pay close attention for almost that entire time.
Gibbs – “So, we’re setting out to find whatever this key unlocks?”
Jack Sparrow – “No. If we don’t have the key, we can’t open whatever we don’t have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don’t have, without first having found the key what unlocks it?”
Gibbs – “So, we’re setting out to find this key?”
Jack Sparrow – “Now you’re not making any sense at all.”
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Cotton’s Parrot – [squawk] “Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me!”
Will Turner – [looks bewildered] “I’m not going to eat you.”
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Pintel – “You know you can’t read.”
Ragetti – “It’s the Bible. You get credit for tryin’.”
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Jack Sparrow – [talking about Jack’s debt to Jones] “You already have my payment. One soul to serve on your ship is already over there.”
Davey Jones – “One soul is not equal to another.”
Jack Sparrow – “Ah-ha! So, we’ve established my proposal as sound in principle. Now, we’re just haggling over price.”
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Norrington – “Do excuse me while I kill the man who ruined my life.”
Will Turner – “Be my guest.”
Jack Sparrow – “Let us examine that claim for a moment, former Commodore, shall we? Who was it that, at the very moment you had a notorious pirate safely behind bars, saw fit to free said pirate and take your dearly beloved all to hisself, eh? So whose fault is it *really* that you’ve ended up a rum-pot deckhand what takes orders from pirates?”
Norrington – “ENOUGH!”
[Jack somersaults off roof, Norrington turns to Will]
Norrington – “Unfortunately, Mr. Turner, he’s right!”
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Jack Sparrow – ” ‘Ello, beastie.”
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Will Turner – “If there was anything could be done to bring him back…”
Tia Dalma – “Would you do it? What would any of you do? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and back to fetch back witty Jack, and him precious Pearl?”
Gibbs, Ragetti, Pintel – “Aye!”
Elizabeth Swann – “Yes.”
Tia Dalma – “All right. But if you will brave the weird and haunted shores at world’s end, then you will need a captain who knows those waters.”
Barbossa – [enters] “So tell me, what’s become of my ship?”