THE DEVIL AND THE DEPP BLUE SEA Rating:  The creative and on-screen crew of the Black Pearl set sail on the Caribbean only to face their most dangerous foe and the darkest tale of the film series.  PIRATES 2 embraces its middle chapter position, wreaking havoc on Jack Sparrow and the swashbuckling world around him as legendary Davy Jones arises to collect his overdue debt.  Still rollicking good fun, this pirate adventure definitely leaves the kiddie pool behind and sets a course for deeper waters, aiming the intense and occasionally nightmarish scenes at a more mature audience than its predecessor.  This film takes no prisoners in its quest to extend the PIRATES trilogy into 2007's finale, so all hands prepare for action on deck!  This ride just got a whole lot wilder.

If director Gore Verbinski and screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had one mission mapped out for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST, it must have been to confound audience and critical expectations once again, as they did on their maiden voyage in THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL.  This new take on the Caribbean world of piracy and seafaring legend approaches the trilogy from such a startlingly different angle and tone, viewers may need to let this new chapter sink in a bit before they can appreciate it for its efforts.

Still peppered with moments of sheer comic delight and frivolity, a much darker tone and mood permeates the film, befitting the difficult, complicated middle act of a trilogy's dramatic structure.  Just as The Empire Strikes Back deepened and matured the story of Star Wars, DEAD MAN'S CHEST challenges its fervent fan base to look, think and feel beyond its buoyant, bubbling opening act, while continuing the misadventures of its beloved characters.

In short, pirate life in the Caribbean quickly goes to hell in a hand basket, heralded by the arrival of the deep blue sea's Devil himself, the legendary Davy Jones.  Having escaped the curse of forbidden Aztec gold, Jack Sparrow helms the Black Pearl and its crew in new hijackings and hijinks, unaware that Jack's past has finally caught up with him in their wake.  The story is set in motion by the revelation that Jack once bargained his soul with Davy Jones to become captain of the Pearl — and time to repay that debt has inescapably arrived.

This bad news is broken by the barnacle-encrusted appearance of 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner, Depp's former shipmate on the Pearl and Will Turner's long lost father.   Old Bootstrap certainly paid the price for his part in Barbossa's mutiny against Jack, as he was last seen plummeting to the ocean depths tied to a cannon by Barbossa's cursed crew.  Undead under the crushing weight of the sea, Bootstrap dealt his damned soul to Davy Jones, and now must serve one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman.  Alas, the same fate may befall Jack Sparrow unless he can con his way into paying off his debt to Davy Jones... and Jack's swashbuckling skulduggery ensues.

Meanwhile, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann's wedding plans are dashed when both are arrested by the King's new watchdog of the Caribbean, Lord Cutler Beckett.  The plot thickens and then some as Beckett blackmails Will into pursuing Jack and the Black Pearl, in exchange for a pardon and Elizabeth's freedom.  Will's mission: to obtain Jack's supernaturally attuned compass ... but why would Beckett and the East India Trading Company want directions to the Isla de Muerta treasure that has been swallowed by the sea?

The key (literally) rests with Davy Jones — in this case, the key to the Dead Man's Chest, a strongbox containing Davy Jones' secret to commanding the seas.  Capture Jones' power and you control him and a monstrous sea creature, the dreaded Kraken: a tentacled behemoth which can devour a ship's crew and crush vessels into splinters in its slimy embrace.

Thus the race begins between Jack, Will, Elizabeth and Beckett to steal Davy Jones' secret in a complex and somewhat overcomplicated series of plot setups which tend to bog down the film's first half-hour.  Writers Elliott and Rossio had their hands quite full with all the heavy-lifting of plot to get this tale on course and out to sea.  Their task is a tall order, since the script's opening act actually sets up story material for both PIRATES sequels at the same time (just as both productions were filmed simultaneously). 

To be fair, the script sets up its tapestry of plot points as well as can be done, but their tale so quickly and vastly expands the dramatic world of the Caribbean far beyond its horizons in CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, that audiences must process a great deal of information which pays off throughout this film and into the final chapter, AT WORLD'S END, due next year.  In this regard, DEAD MAN'S CHEST bites off almost more than it can chew, offset by the fact that the film runs two-and-a-half hours long to weave its complex tale before unraveling it for the middle-act conclusion.

Verbinksi and the writers increase the tension by setting their characters at odds with each other: while Jack, Will and Elizabeth all want access to Davy Jones' key, they're often working at cross purposes and directions to obtain what they individually want most.   Jack wants his soul back, Will wants Jack's compass to exchange for Elizabeth's life, and Elizabeth displays her true pirate colors to outfox Beckett and save Will before he's betrayed.  This complex collision of goals and methods is cleverly illustrated in a stunning sword fight scene, pitting Jack and Will against the disheveled, disenfranchised ex-Commodore Norrington who returns to fight for Davy Jones' secret as well.  The trio engage in an amazing three-way duel across a tiny island, spinning and circling in steel-clashing battle which should prove a sword match for cinematic ages, and is certainly one of the film's brightest, action-packed highlights.

Where the story goes from there, let dead men tell no spoilers!  Suffice it to say, the greatest treasure luring audiences back into theaters remains Johnny Depp, returning as Jack Sparrow.   The breakneck pacing of the story's plot gives Depp little time to expand upon his brilliant, quirky affectations.  Instead his character's further revelation hinges upon how he reacts to the threat of Davy Jones' threat to collect Jack's soul-debt, running the emotional gambit from panic to sly double-dealing and eventually a measure of Jack's moral being. Depp still invests superb comic timing into Jack Sparrow, propelled by his trickster nature which audience will again find appealing throughout this new journey.

As Will Turner has matured, so have the skills and performance by Orlando Bloom, who carries more of the story's burden in this film, and stands up stoutly under the responsibility. Fighting for his beloved Elizabeth, Bloom's Will Turner ventures deeper into leading man territory, and will no doubt stand triumphantly along side Depp by the end of the PIRATES saga.  Much of Will's more dramatic turn arises from the fateful reunion with his father, Bootstrap Bill, played with understated despair by Stellan Skarsgård.  Doomed to serve Davy Jones aboard The Flying Dutchman for a hundred years, Bootstrap must once again wager his coral-crusted soul to save his son from the same terrible sentence.

Keira Knightley also demonstrates her own maturation as an actress, as Elizabeth has dropped her petticoats and picked up a sword, dashing into action and danger right along with the boys.  Elizabeth's participation in the final quarter of the plot's events allow Knightley to forget her dazzling natural beauty and play it down and dirty when the going truly gets rough.  Yet Elizabeth remains very much a woman in love, portraying that particular brand of strength in a solid, more strenuous performance than her prior aristocratic manners allowed.

With the addition Davy Jones at the heart of DEAD MAN'S CHEST, the film's darker depths gain numerous shivers and sinister chills through the excellent, emotive work of Bill Nighy.  As an actor who often plays his roles with a timeworn, deadpan face, it's an ironic delight that the tentacled makeup obscuring Nighy's visage allows him to express so much character through his eyes.  Credit once again to Ve Neill and her superb makeup team, but all would be for naught if Nighy wasn't such an expert at character interpretation.  Davy Jones' stares, glances and cutting sneers speak volumes amid the suction-cup spaghetti hanging off his face.  As Jack touches upon Davy Jones' betrayed, loveless past, Nighy summons a look of utter despair and sorrow so palpable it hurts.   Bill Nighy's arrival in the PIRATES crew is worth its weight in gold.

In a welcome return, actor Jack Davenport reprises his role as James Norrington, a former Commodore in the King's navy whose life and career sank to ruin in his failed pursuit of Jack Sparrow.  Gone are Norrington's foppish wigs and finely tailored uniform, and in their place staggers a rum-soaked outcast who, ironically, must join the Black Pearl's crew to find redemption for the life he lost.  I always thought writers Elliott and Rossio wrote Norrington's character so smartly in CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, elevating his 'third wheel' character with personal dignity and integrity well above the typical jilted lover who does the right thing.  The scribes repeat this service to Norrington, only with less comic and more ambiguous results.  Like the pirates around him, Norrington must now fight for his own purpose, and not duty to King and country, if he is to save himself.  Half pirate, half moral defender, Norrington's character now edges into the shadows between virtue and vice, in a twist that should pay off enjoyably in the trilogy's finale.

Audience favorites Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) have also signed aboard Jack's crew, if conveniently so, along with loyal hands Gibbs (Kevin R. McNally), Cotton (David Bailie) and Marty (Martin Klebba).  It's a bit disappointing that Pintel and Ragetti can't fit into the main plots of this tale more directly — due to so many new story points begun — and thus their superb comic pairing is less successfully exploited than before, despite their talented efforts.  Gibbs resumes his role as the film's dealer of plot exposition, fumbling fact and fiction in the retelling of such tales as usual, if less originally so than before. Also filling his niche ably is veteran actor Jonathan Pryce, who returns as the well-intentioned but spineless Governor Swann, forsaking all (even Will) to save his daughter from the gallows.  With so many new main characters added to expand this middle act, there is only so much screen time available to the supporting crew, even in a sprawling 150 minute film.  But these deck hands are signed on for the long haul, so more power to them in 2007.

Once again producer Jerry Bruckheimer has pulled out all the stops to ensure that DEAD MAN'S CHEST out-wows audiences whose expectations are high for this sequel.  Indeed, at moments the film suffers from kitchen-sink-itis (i.e. throwing everything but said basin into the film) to surpass its opening act.  Taking events over the top has become Bruckheimer's cinematic trademark, but he struck a much better balance between excess and purpose in CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL than he does in Part Two.   Audiences will sense when the film drifts astray to pursue moments of sheer whimsy, which are not necessarily bad ventures, but contrast the many moments when this tale hits the nail directly on the head.

Perhaps Bruckheimer's greatest strength is signing a crew of industry experts and innovators who guide the films through difficult waters with sublime accuracy.  Production Designer Rick Heinrichs and Costume Designer Penny Rose invest the film with solid, gritty realism that grounds this fantastic tale in a believable foundation — a key mission which allows the script's stunning phantoms like Davy Jones to exist.  Director of Photography Dariusz Wolski shot DEAD MAN'S CHEST with less romantic heroism, befitting this darker tale of conflicting ambitions and damnable curses.  Once again, George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic prove why they remain the best in the visual effects business, filling the screen with both stunning and subtle illusions which make this legendary world not only possible, but enjoyable even in the darkest depths of Davy Jones' living hell.  Composer Hans Zimmer's score reprises many themes from the first film, while adding some new motifs with the gothic grandeur foreshadowing Davy Jones and the Kraken rating best.

Overall, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST may be a more difficult chapter for audiences to embrace, but that's only because the filmmakers chose to challenge viewers' and critics' expectations about it.  In breaking the mold created by the first film, this middle act reforges the PIRATES franchise in a darker, more serious image — if on occasion a bit too serious for its own good.  Yet the film retains its silly, quirky side courtesy of Depp's indomitable Jack Sparrow, who never loses sight of piracy's fun, adventurous, double-dealing spirit which will delight audiences once more.  Numerous laughs elevate even the most nightmarish moments, all leading up to the unexpected Act Two cliffhanger ending.  That's right, following the trilogy form, DEAD MAN'S CHEST leaves audiences impatiently primed for the thrilling conclusion in Act Three with a most intriguing plot twist.  Thus, consider and watch DEAD MAN'S CHEST as a valuable, enjoyable investment into the larger PIRATES saga which will no doubt pay off handsomely for all with its thrilling finale next summer.

So buckle up, me hearties, the ride which inspired a movie which re-inspired the ride is bound to get much wilder before its over!

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