Pirates of the Caribbean: Empire Strikes Back Redux

Rating: 6/10 (7 July 2006)

Here it is: the long awaited sequel to everyone's favorite pirate movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Was it worth the wait? In a lot of ways, yes it was. The movie delivers in many facets: humor, action, adventure, and of course, detestable villains. The actors stay consistent in their roles, never catering to over-the-top caricatures of their characters.
However, the movie suffers from overall plot structure. The first ludicrous twenty minutes is completely useless to the story (except if you consider the end at the credits). Dead Man's Chest feels a lot like Empire Strikes Back in plot, but that can be forgiven. What make me maddest about the plot though is the fact that it has to be told in two parts. This makes the first movie stand alone and the next two linked together as one self-contained story. Pirates is no longer a trilogy, but two films, much like a preceding "trilogy" like The Matrix.
Dead Man's Chest also guises itself as a rehash of the first movie. Many jokes are reused and the enemies are very similar (invincible). However, this one is different in the fact that it is more of a cartoon. Jack and Will should have died in a few places, but I guess they were suffering from "Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III Syndrome" (it's impossible to die!).
Alas, these last trifles are minor and the movie is very entertaining for what it's worth. And it does make me excited for the third movie coming out in 2007. Overall, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is an enjoyable sequel, even if it is shadowed by the greatness of its predecessor somewhat.