Director: Gore Verbinski, US, 12A, 150min
Stars: Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Orlando Boom

On general release

So, as the poster says, Captain Jack is back. Three years and 600 million box- office dollars after we first encountered a scene- stealing Johnny Depp in eyeliner, headscarf and galumphing rock-star swagger, he gamely returns to lead Disney’s flagship (pun intended) franchise in the first of two blockbusting follow-ups to The Curse of the Black Pearl.

This time, however, something profound has shifted in the Pirates universe. Depp has been transformed from a colourful buddy movie co-star (the comedic goofball to Bloom’s sword-wielding straight man) into the central protagonist.

Background

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

• Pirates III: Bye-bye, captain

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

• I want to quit acting, says Keira Knightley

• Bill Nighy talks Pirates

Background

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

• Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl

Last blast for Orlando the sea dog

‘No more trilogies!’ Orlando Bloom tells us, on the eve of the final Pirates of the Caribbean

Related Internet Links

• 2007 London Film Festival coverage

• Times Online Film Trailers

Thus, within a narrative that’s as flimsy and convoluted as it is remorselessly entertaining, he must procure a treasure map from a deadly slaver’s lair, escape from a deadly cannibal island, fight a deadly sea-monster, and survive some deadly broadsides with a phantom ship called The Flying Dutchman, all the while delivering casual one-liners and insouciant wink-wink asides to the camera.

Obviously, it’s still a charismatic turn from Depp, but in the spotlight of centre stage it tends towards the arch and the gimmicky. Plus the elevation of Captain Jack has meant a significant demotion for the plankish Bloom and Keira Knightley, cruelly denuded of their on-screen romance and reduced to whinnying support. The only real joy here is Nighy, fantastically compelling beneath a globulous terabyte of computer-generated make- up as the squid-faced Davy Jones, the captain of The Flying Dutchman and leader of an equally grotesque crew. His performance, all roving tentacles and gruff Scottish brogue, is a genuinely bewitching conflation of technology and personality. He is this year’s Gollum. He is an unfettered scene-stealer. In short, his is the Johnny Depp role.

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