Better than the first? Maybe...

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2007)

I must warn you now, I can't guarantee that this will be a spoiler-free review. I try to avoid them, but there are some plot-points that I may bring up. You have been warned.
To start, I believe this to be the best of the trilogy (let's hope it stays a trilogy... stupid Bruckheimer). The first was fantastic, revolutionary. As a friend of mine puts it: "Pirates is the 'Indiana Jones' of this generation". The second was less than stellar... To be honest, I hated it when I first saw it. Watching it a second and third time raised my opinion of it, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first. The biggest problem with the second was that it was messy. At World's End, though still jumpy, keeps on track, and stays with the spirit of the first. The plot wasn't that good (but, to be honest, I don't believe any of the PotC plots were intriguing), but it was the acting, visual effects, and action that brought it up a notch.
The acting was brilliant, especially on Johnny Depp's part, and there are a couple instances during the movie where Jack takes from the pages of one of my favourite movies, Secret Window. Geoffrey Rush was great, though didn't match his performance in the first. Barbossa definitely had his moments, but overall felt somewhat forgotten, though it's not like they could've given him much more screen time. Orlando Bloom and Kira Knightly were just as annoying as they were in the last two, though Will actually seemed determined this time. The two have good chemistry, but the characters have just gotten annoying. Bill Nighy is bloody amazing. He did so well showing the weakness of Davey Jones, whilst staying vicious and somewhat frightening. The biggest problem I found about the second movie was that Jones didn't seem as prominent of a villain as Barbossa, but he makes up for that in this film. All of the other secondary characters were great, except Tia Dalma. She seemed randomly broken from the very beginning, as if she all of a sudden started loving Jones again. Her attitude seemed out-of-place from the second film, and it made me angry because she was one of my favourite new characters. The new pirates were cool, but again weren't elaborated on as much as I would've liked. Chou Yun-Fat 's character seemed to be a big part, but was forgotten about rather quickly, and then killed off soon after that. I think Depp's performance makes up for all of the bad. He really deserves the Oscar this year.
As for the special effects, they were amazing. Davey Jones looks better than he did in the last film, as do his crew. The ships are bloody awesome. Incomprehensible. The storm and maelstrom were cool as well. I was very impressed. Also (referring to Jack's performance) the numerous Captains were amazing. For one guy acting out over 20 parts, it was uber-impressive, and looked pretty damn real. It was a high-budget pirate movie... there's not much more that can be said. It looked good.
The plot was... meh. As I said before, I've never been to keen on the PotC plots. They're hokey, but the movie is meant to be fun, and it is successful in that sense. The plot doesn't really matter with the Pirate movies, as it is all about the thrill of the action and the love of the characters. It was one of the better plots (whether it is better than the first is still undecided), but it still had its problems.
The action was fun, fast, and amazing. Some of the best sequences I've ever seen. The final sea-battle was epic. I was so impressed, it was awesome. It was so well done... I can't say much more than that. If you don't want to see the movie, whatever, but you need to see this battle. It is the coolest ship fight I've ever seen. YouTube it, pirate it, I don't care. You must watch this sequence.
All in all, it was a good movie. I think that the performances overall push it above the heap, but I still love the first. If anything, they're equal. It will take a second viewing to decide whether it is better. I highly recommend this film, it's easily worth the $10.
By the way, there are a couple things I wanted to mention that don't really fit into the other categories. The opening sequence is amazing. I had shivers, it was awesome. Unfortunately, once it passed, the movie started out a little slow and rocky. Other than that, it was a great ride. Oh, and there are so many sexual references and innuendos... A little edgy for Disney, but still awesome.