“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” returns Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow to your local theater starting July 7. “Today” movie critic Gene Shalit, who's spent many a happy day shivering his timbers, says gather up your crew and climb aboard.
Right, me hearties, everybody on deck for Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow and his “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” See the derring-do of the daring Depp, deep in debt to the evil Davy Jones who rules the seas and schemes to seize Jack. Jack Sparrow is cunning, sardonic, mendacious, and brilliant — an all-time great pirate. As he sails to find the fabled Dead Man’s Chest, his crew’s on deck with no two of a kind, and Jack is the ace. Off they go, his askew crew loose, and adventures abound. A sea serpent ... cannibals ... a runaway waterwheel ... Davy Jones’s ghouls ... a long-lost pirate found anew ... and passionate lovers (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). Keira thinks Orlando’s magic, and the whole movie’s magic. Johnny Depp’s masterly performance, Elliott and Rossio’s bang-up screenplay, and Gore Verbinski’s direction fuse into an exhilarating jubilation whose adventurous swash never buckles.