Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Watching the sequel to the 2003 blockbuster hit is like seeing an unruly kid rummage through his toy box. The movie hits the ground—er, water—running, and the action is frantic for nearly two-and-a-half hours, but it’s a pretty joyless ride, even with all the CGI wizardry a quarter of a billion bucks can buy. Johnny Depp’s rummy panache as Capt. Jack Sparrow is again the best reason to see it, but the story is as incomprehensible as the accents of the supporting cast—something about a quest for the key to a chest containing the beating heart of Davy Jones, ghostly ruler of the sea (played by Bill Nighy, whose ability to act through a mask of writhing octopus tentacles might have stolen a less cumbersome movie, even from the redoubtable Depp). Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom again co-star.