Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
★★★★ — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Part of the ship, part of the crew. That line sums up exactly how I feel about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and honestly, about the whole franchise at its best. You're either on board or you're not, and I am absolutely on board with this one. More than any other film in the series, this is the one that got everything right.
Say what you want about blockbuster excess, but this film earns every penny on the screen. The stakes feel genuinely dangerous, the world feels properly vast and strange, and the mythology surrounding Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman gives the story a dark, almost supernatural weight that the first film only hinted at. I reviewed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and loved it, but looking back, it now feels like a warm-up act. Dead Man's Chest is the main event.
And then there's Davy Jones himself. I genuinely think he's one of the greatest CGI creations ever put on screen. I'm not throwing that around lightly. Watch him again today and he still holds up. Every tentacle on that face moves with a kind of wet, horrible life to it. The performance underneath the effects is tremendous too, all seething menace and wounded pride. He's a proper villain with genuine menace, not just a big bad standing at the end of the film waiting to be defeated. You believe he's terrifying because the film treats him as terrifying.
The action set pieces are where this thing really sings, though. The triple-threat sword fight on the beach, three men duelling across a rolling mill wheel careering down a clifftop, is one of the most inventive and purely joyful action sequences I can remember seeing in a summer blockbuster. It's ridiculous in the best possible way. And then the Kraken. That thing is an absolute beast of a creature, and the sequence where it attacks the ship is genuinely spectacular, chaotic and frightening in equal measure. Pure blockbuster magic, like I said. There's no better description for it.
The film leans harder into the mystical and the macabre than the first one did, and that shift suits it brilliantly. There's a sense of genuine dread running underneath all the swashbuckling fun, which keeps things from ever feeling lightweight. It's still funny, still full of that rollicking adventure spirit, but it's darker around the edges in a way that gives it real texture.
Is it a little bloated? Yes, fair enough, I'll give you that. There are moments in the middle stretch where the plot is spinning its wheels and you feel the runtime. It's a long film, and it knows it. But I'd rather have a film that's slightly too much of a good thing than one that's too cautious to commit. Dead Man's Chest commits fully, and that enthusiasm is infectious.
This is the high point of the entire franchise for me, and I say that as someone who went back and watched the rest of them. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) has its moments but gets tangled up in its own ambitions, and by the time you get to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) the whole thing had lost the plot somewhat. But here, right here in 2006, this series was firing on all cylinders. Visually stunning, genuinely exciting, and with a villain for the ages. Four stars, no hesitation.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 2006 | Watched: 2025-04-27
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Gore Verbinski: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) · Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
More with Johnny Depp: Corpse Bride (2005) · Black Mass (2015) · Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) · Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
