Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man´s Chest

It is full steam ahead in the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean". Adventure, action, farce and romantic comedy are once again combined in an entertaining cocktail, but this time the action has been cranked up a notch. You cannot demand time for reflection in a film about pirates, the living dead and cannibals, but the story worked better in the first film, where there were more breathing spaces in the breathless action, and the romantic drama helped engage the viewer in the characters' tribulations.

It is no bad thing to have the first film in mind when you go in to see the sequel, which begins just where the first one left off. But you can manage without it.

The dead man's chest of the title is the treasure everyone is after. It can give its owner control of the seven seas. The vain and opportunistic pirate Jack Sparrow is of course after it, but so is the official Cutler Beckett, who at the beginning of the film imprisons Will Turner and his fiancée Elizabeth Swann. They are accused of having helped Jack escape, but Cutler is willing to show mercy and set the couple free again if Will promises to go after Jack and get him the magic compass that can lead its owner to the chest. It is an offer Will cannot refuse, and so the wild treasure hunt begins.

A third instalment is on its way, in fact made at the same time as the second. As a result the film ends so open-endedly that it becomes an irritant.