Overly busy sequel with some high points

Rating: 6/10 (28 December 2010)

Some people actually prefer this sequel to the original, although it is difficult to imagine why. The wedding of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann is disrupted when a bloodthirsty corporate pipsqueak demands that they locate a compass in Captain Jack Sparrow's possession which he imagines will give him domain over the seas, while Jack finds himself forced to repay a debt to the ghastly Davy Jones - captain of the infamous Flying Dutchman - lest he become the latest ghoul addition to Jones' crew. One certainly cannot accuse the plot of sitting on its laurels...and that is the problem. The plot is overly busy and laden with unnecessary exposition which slows down the pace and allows the charm and fun from the original to wane. There are definitely comic highlights - such as a couple of madcap chases. The cast members are still in top form even when the screenplay fails to support them. Depp is chronically watchable in this role and nothing can change that fact. Jack Davenport gets more notes to play this time around as down-on-his-luck Norrington and Naomie Harris is a delightful addition as the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma. Keira Knightley gets much more to do this time around and is fortunate enough to be thrown together with Depp. Orlando Bloom - who functioned as the heart of the original film - is saddled with a tiresome subplot, which finds him stuck for much of the film on the Flying Dutchman trying to "rescue" his father, played by a shell-shocked Stellan Skarsgard. It is a subplot that we cannot get behind and fails to have much impact. Similarly, the screenplay has characters that we should support betray each other repeatedly on a dime - including a late act development which is really hard to buy. Bill Nighy is visually impressive as the squid-like Davy Jones, but neither he nor sniveling Tom Hollander as the corporate stooge resonate with the viewer as strongly as Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa. The final moments set up the next installment and offer a glimmer that it may surpass this effort.