If you hear a movie has corporate synergy, you probably want to see it about as much as you want to see your doctor dipping his index finger in petroleum jelly. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, however, is worth probing. The first Pirates flick made tons of dough and served to reignite interest in its namesake Disneyland ride. Sensing opportunity, the Disney folks decided to exploit the sequel's built-in audience by plugging the theme park's other moribund attractions. While that may sound like shameless hucksterism, it all occurs so seamlessly and with such verve that the result is a wonderfully festive summer movie.
The film picks up with Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) exiled on a tropical island. Hacking through the jungle, he encounters an enchanted tiki room. Inside, a colorful chorus of singing birds led by Jose, a magnificent macaw, entertain with a no-cover floor show. Jose and his main cohorts, Michael, Fritz and Pierre, give Sparrow a treasure map, though not before honoring him with a rum-soaked party that finds Sparrow wondering aloud, "How is it that the birds sing words and the flowers croon...In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room?"
In search of the treasure, Sparrow comes upon an elaborate tree house occupied by a resourceful Swiss family. The oldest daughter, Elizabeth Robinson (Keira Knightley), shows Sparrow what it means to "rustle the leaves." She then tags along on his quest, falling sway to his eloquent invitation, "Tis a different kind of booty ye offer, lassie, but I welcome ye to shiver me timber every morn'."
Jack and Elizabeth are sidetracked when they learn that approaching pirates are going to pillage a nearby orphanage. Just ahead of the pirates, the twosome reach the orphanage, where Elizabeth is amazed to see a racially diverse group of children getting along Jack points out that, "There is just one moon and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone." They load the kids onto a boat and escape down river, singing the whole time about laughter, tears, hopes, and fears.
Dead Man's Chest builds an E-Ticket movie around A-Ticket rides. Film snobs may argue for more organic storytelling, but those dumbos haven't watched the scene where Jack and Elizabeth are locked in a cage on the Casey Junior Circus Train. The rest of us eagerly await the third installment of the Pirates trilogy. The story details are hush-hush, though a popular rumor points to the kidnaping of a robotic Abe Lincoln. To be first in line for a movie like that, I'll drive like Mr. Toad...
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