You have to remember that the original fantasy was inspired by a Disney theme park ride – so the seafaring sequel continues that kind of bewitching, fast-paced adventure.

Spunky Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and stalwart Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) are about to be married when they’re arrested and condemned to the gallows for aiding the escape of rebellious Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). It’s the nefarious scheme of the East India Company’s Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) who wants to use the villainous power of “heartless,” squid-headed Davy Jones’ (Bill Nighy) elusive Dead Man’s Chest to obliterate piracy. In their quest for freedom, they forge unlikely alliances with a Jamaican soothsayer (Naomi Harris) and Will’s long-lost father, twice-cursed father, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), trapped, along with other grim, barnacle-encrusted, water-logged weirdos, aboard the ghostly Flying Dutchman.

Director Gore Verbinski and writers Ted Ellliott & Terry Rossio aren’t as concerned with plot as with upping the ante with more action, like an inventively staged sword-fight on a mill wheel; more intrigue, along with treachery and betrayal; more comic relief, including cannibals skewering Sparrow-on-a-spit; more awesome CG special effects, as in Davy Jones’ squid-tentacle’d beard and the Kraken, a massive, mythical sea monster; plus a climactic cliffhanger heralding the third installment due in the summer of 2007.

High above the masthead perches gleefully addled, swaggering, swishing, larger-than-life Johnny Depp. Minor quibbles include the unintelligible, oft-mumbled dialogue, particularly from Naomi Harris, some PG-13 challenging sadism, and the squirm-inducing length (2 hrs. 40 min.).

Yet on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest” is a devilishly extravagant, joyfully escapist 10. Jump on-board for a fun-filled, buccaneer thrill ride – and if you patiently wait thru the seemingly endless credits, there’s even an amusing final snippet.