iVillage Entertainment

I couldn't make it to the Pirates of the Caribbean screening the other night (bummer!), so I asked my friend Dorothy to let me know what she thought of it. Here's her little review. Thanks, Dar! Ahoy, mateys! As a fan of the original, I've been excitedly awaiting Pirates of the Caribbean 2 knowing that it had to be good because with pirates and Depp, what could go wrong? The answer is absolutely nothing. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man's Chest is exactly what a summer blockbuster should be. It's filled with action (stunningly choreographed sword fights),adventure (sea battles, cannibal island), romance (by the end, you'll know why Keira Knightly is the luckiest girl in Hollywood), humor (sometimes slapsticky, but always done with a sly wink at the camera) and thrills (the Kraken, looking much better than it did in 1981's Clash Of The Titans). My companion Craig wasn't digging the supernatural elements of the movie, but to me, the fantasy/mythological elements make the story much more interesting. The plot can be a little convoluted, but the basic story is about a debt that Captain Jack needs to pay back to Davy Jones (brilliant British actor Bill Nighy), the squid-like king of the seas. Jack, of course, wants leverage to get out of his payment so he sets out to find both a key and the chest it opens, which contains something Davy Jones really needs. Suddenly Jack, Will and the deliciously scruffy former Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport) all race to get the chest, each man with his own agenda, while Davy Jones and his ship, The Flying Dutchman, are hot on their heels. Children under 8 might be scared by Davy Jones' crew, made up of men who chose to serve Jones and so begin to look like sea creatures, rather than drown, but adults will appreciate the CGI makeup that transforms the crew in a way that's more Gollum than Jar Jar Binks. From the opening scene to the explosive, cliffhanger endings (there's a lot of shockers in the last 15 minutes), Pirates 2 is pure fun from start to finish. It's a movie that pirates and landlubbers alike will love. So make sure you all go see it on July 7, and stay until the credits run to catch an extra fun scene, savvy?