True swashbuckling stuff

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Certificate 12A

CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow is one of the most endearing characters of recent cinema, played by one of the best actors of his generation.
And the return of Johnny Depp’s pirate is the summer’s highlight.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest boasts a cast rammed with the cream of British acting talent, a story that leaps from scene to scene like an Errol Flynn swashbuckler that has been immersed in rum for too long and some original special effects that will make you leap from your seat.
It means the film is unadultered entertainment, every scene boasting a joke, a stunt and banter that goes back and forth like a sword fight.
Hidden behind all these jinks is the semblance of a story: pretty English rose Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) has been arrested in Port Royal, Jamaica, by evil British envoy Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company for helping Cap’n Jack.
Her husband to be, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), has been sent to find Jack and take from him a magic compass that points the way to whatever the owner wishes to find – and in turn free his loved one.
Beckett understandably sees the compass as a powerful tool for the company.
In Jack’s hands the compass doesn’t seem to know which way to point – an observation on his character of being a total rogue who wants to do the right thing but is far too much a pirate to realise it.
Meanwhile, Jack must find a key to a chest that contains the heart of Davy Jones, a half-man-half-octopus and skipper of the Flying Dutchman played by a bearably recognisable Bill Nighy in order to barter for his soul, which he has sold to the evil seafarer. He enlists Turner’s help, with the promise the compass will be his if they are successful.
There are so many sideshows that it would be easy to get lost: but with Depp on screen, the story often takes a back seat anyway.
There are a few problems: clocking in at around two-and-a-half hours, the age group that this film will really appeal to may start to fidget.
But such gripes are minor and it’s great fun all the way.