Verbinski loses the fun plot. Still a good ride, but not a great one.

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2006)

One gets the impression from "Dead Man's Chest" that Gore Verbinski either lost the fun parts of the script from the last half of this movie, or that he reviewed the script from the forthcoming third movie and realized there was too much left in the fx budget and not enough juice left in the script. So wide was the disparity between fx and writing that he seemed to need to spread one thickly and one far too thinly.
The movie rambles along nicely enough for the first hour and 20 minutes, very much in the vein of the first, tightly directed, plot well built, some decent jokes and neat "in" jokes to keep fans intrigued. What follows though is comparatively very dark.
Without entering into the arena of spoilerdom; the plot line goes off on an elongated wander apparently intended to ignite interest in the third installment, but actually in serious danger of extinguishing interest. We see some very tired devices attempting to twist the plot, but in truth far more suited to a bad episode of "Dallas" or "Dynasty". Sexual intrigue which isn't intriguing, wholly unbelievable character reversal and re-reversals, the re-introduction of an unnecessary character and a lame attempt to draw on the audience's emotions by the elimination of another.
Verbinski also seems unduly obsessed by the use of paranormal characters to add wow. He fails almost completely. What actually occurs is that we become almost "effects weary" by the continued use of jaded devices which are not original the first time they appear in this movie, never mind that they are rolled out time and time again. It feels like one is being beaten over the head with them. The first movie benefited greatly from the occasional displays of the "curse". No such subtlety exists here.
Taken in isolation, this movie could be pronounced an entertaining spectacle, but perhaps Disney has created a rod for their back by attempting to recreate the magic and the excellence of the first twice more.
This story cannot stand by itself, much as the second Matrix was a meaningless ramble without the third. That series remains a flawed tale, we can only hope that Pirates finds it's touch on the third outing. After such an excellent start it would be a dreadful waste of excellent talent for if the third were nearly as unsatisfying as this disappointing follow-up.