The Jolly Roger Flies

I hatedhated the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" so much that I got angry at everyone else who liked it. This made me bitter at pretty much the rest of the world, and I've lived the past three years ostracized from the alternate dimension of pirate enthusiasts. Going into the sequel, subtitled "Dead Man's Chest" felt like walking the plank. After being severely disappointed by the "Clerks" and "Superman" sequels, how could this Disney nonsense possibly be decent?

Lo and behold, "Dead Man's Chest" is the most fun and exciting movie of the summer so far. It's everything people said the first "Pirates" was -- even though they were wrong -- and everything it should have been. If Johnny Depp deserved a best actor Oscar nomination for his showing in the first film, he deserves to be up for the Nobel Peace Prize for this one. He's far less irritating this time out, and actually turned Jack Sparrow into a character I could feel for. The same can't be said of styrofoam mannequin Orlando Bloom, but that's to be expected. Even Keira Knightley, who's stuck with a constant expression of her mouth slightly open, does a decent job. The special effects and writing are what really put wind in the sails. The "Pirates" sequel is dumb, exuberant fun, and lots of it. I expect it to drop anchor on "Superman Returns" this weekend.