As good as the first?

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2006)

Naturally, when I went to see this film, I was expecting it to be good, after the first's success. I was impressed, to say the least. Although many others would probably tell you 'there wasn't any need for a sequel' or 'the plot's too confusing', I strongly disagree.
The first few minutes seemed slightly strange to me; as in why was Jack Sparrow being thrown off of an island in a coffin? Plus, the first three-quarters of an hour were just a tad bit slow (probably because there wasn't any action!), but the plot began to thicken from there.
When the first movie was released I'd never even heard of the name 'Gore Verbinski'. He seems to have made quite a good job, with both films so far.
The plot to the film was just slightly complex, but fairly easy to grasp if you take notice.
The acting was superb from everyone. Johnny Depp seems to have gotten better at being Captain Jack if nothing else, while Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom support him well (they're not bad on their own anyway).
There are some major action sequences, especially the three-way sword battle on Isla Cruces, and following that the spinning wheel part.
I'm sure everyone wants to know what happens next, especially as the film ends so suddenly. I think the thing we all want to know is: how the HELL did Barbosa come back to life?! 8/10 in my opinion.