Long and disappointing.

Rating: 4/10 (25 May 2007)

I know many will disagree, but I was not happy with this movie. The first two hours drug on and on. The early action scenes did not seem to me to be filmed very well; far too many 1/2 second blurred shots in the first fight scene, and too many characters in them that I didn't care about. When they were not showing off poor direction in those early fights, they were showing off poor acting. I knew coming in that Orlando Bloom couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag, but Keira Knightly's character was both written and acted poorly. While I could never say that Johnny Depp's acting was anything less than superb, what was with the Army of Darkness rip-off? It looked as though they even used the same 20-year-old technology! It just did not fit with the rest of the CGI, which was spectacular. Yet another knock was the predictability. Who didn't know coming in that Tia Dalma was Davey Jones' love interest? Aside from that predictable outcome, the writers seemed to try really hard to confuse with multiple twists and back-stabbings that all ended up unnecessary and led to the predictable outcome that could have just as easily been reached in two hours.
But then the story ramped up, and the action came in hand over fist. The movie finally had a chance to redeem itself! And it almost did, but then it got stupid. The wedding scene in the battle was a bit over the top. It was cute, but not even in the same league as the ending of the first movie. Then, once again, it had a chance for redemption, when Turner was stabbed and became the new captain of the Dutchman. But they blew the whole premise of why Davey Jones had his heart ripped out in the first place! The story had shown that he had it ripped out and kept far from him so he didn't have to feel anymore. So why then, did Turner continue to feel for Elizabeth when his heart was far away? I would have been much happier to see Turner come back with a barnacle attached to his face, and hatred in his eyes than to see such a contradictory ending. I was happy that they left the ending open for more from Jack and Barbossa, the fountain of youth would be an excellent premise. But then, after waiting through 10 minutes of credits (like it wasn't long enough to begin with), the final scene finished the story for Will and Elisabeth. The only other option for them is what happens when she gets old and dies, and he is still conscripted to the Dutchman. Not such a happy ending after all, is it? I would be happy to see more Pirates movies, with the storyline between Jack and Barbossa carrying the movie, but Elizabeth and Will are pretty well dead to me.