Aging heartthrob Johnny Depp had never looked gayer
than in his role as a pirate in 2003's Pirates of the
Caribbean. Flouncing about in swishy clothes and thick
mascara, his campy, fruity performance actually nabbed
him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. (Straight
actors in fruity roles always seem to get the
Academy's attention...)

Pirates of the Caribbean became one of 2003's biggest
box-office successes, so it was inevitable that a
sequel got made. In fact, even as the new Pirates of
the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens this week,
director Gore Verbinski and the cast are making the
third movie scheduled for release next year.

Thankfully, the producers managed to persuade most of
the original cast to return to their roles. In this
new movie, Johnny discovers that he owes a blood debt
to a legendary ghost (Bill Nighy) whose beard is a
tangle of octopus tentacles. If Johnny does not pay
his debt in time, he will be doomed to eternal
damnation.

Meanwhile, lovebirds Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley
have problems too. They are about to be married when
Orlando is thrown into jail for helping Johnny escape
prison (in the first movie). Somehow the trio is
reunited for some more spiffy swashbuckling
misadventures.

With action sequences from start to finish, Pirate of
the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest will keep you
entertained for most of its 2-1/2 hour duration. What
made the first film so memorable was its surprising
twist in the middle: The pirates turned out to be
ghosts. Here in the second film, there are no big
surprises — just terrific old-fashioned thrills and
spills. Johnny, however, is as loopy as ever. Don't be
surprised if his frantic comic performance gets
another Oscar nod.