It's been a while since the last sea adventure featuring the likes of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), his lovely fiance Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), and the charismatic swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). This time, director Gore Verbinski has given us more of the same, which is good, considering the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie was such a blast.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest revolves around a mysterious key which leads to an equally mysterious Chest. Several key players (essentially every important main character in the movie) has reason for going after said key and chest. Our main antagonist, at least on the surface, appears to be one Davy Jones, who is ruler of the seas as long as the chest does not to fall into certain hands. Most of the movie is about the adventures that Jack, Will and Elizabeth have as they seek to save their necks by capturing the chest and its contents.

The movie provides plenty of action/adventure, and the visual effects really do seem to get better with every passing blockbuster. This summer has had its share of impressive visuals, and Pirates is not left behind. The adventure scenes in the beginning do seem, however, a bit cookie-cutter and necessary only to advance the plot, but the movie never lets down its high-charged pace is able to regain that fun-flare that made the first movie so original and enjoyable.

The plot does have it's moments which keep it from being entirely predictable, and a lot of that stems from interesting developments in the relationships between some of the main characters. This adds another dimension that viewers can only enjoy to see explored. Other than that, the screenplay is as witty as its predecessor, if not as original in storyline and settings. However, given the level of originality of the first Pirates movie, that is to be forgiven. Of course, enough can't be said of the performance of Johnny Depp, which is every bit as fantastic as that in the first movie.

If there are ever flaws in the screenwriting or direction, the producers know that they can always count on the crowd-pleasing antics of Depp's eccentric Captain Jack. The joy he portrays in the character translates to moviegoers and it should go without saying that the entire "feel" of the movie rests squarely on his shoulders. Thankfully, he doesn't have to do all of the heavy lifting by himself as there are good all around performances around him, most notably by Keira Knightley. Given her seemingly renewed enthusiasm in playing the role, we can only feel happy that the writers gave her role as much screen time as they did and feel equally thankful that she delivers. Knightley brings a certain high-quality "classy sexiness" to her role that makes it hard to imagine anyone else playing it. Bloom is fine as Turner, but nothing special.

Hats off to the crew in general. The movie is a worthy successor, and though I'm not a fan of cliff-hanger endings leading up to third installments, this one offers enough kinks to keep us guessing (and looking forward to) where the story takes us next.