Inferior to the original

Rating: 5/10 (8 July 2006)

Firstly, this film is too long. Secondly, it's very confusing. Thirdly, far too much of it is spent watching various configurations of computer-generated sea life. Fourthly, Johhny Depp has taken an exaggerated character and created a caricature of that exaggeration. The new Jack Sparrow appears even more than before to be in a constant state of intoxication, and has become quite effeminate, almost a Pirate Queen. I did appreciate the studio's small nods to old movies, especially Disney's own 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Davy Jones' organ-playing and the battles with a tentacled monster were both straight out of that film, and Orlando Bloom's sliding-down-the-sail-with-a- knife-stuck-through-it was lifted from Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s silent The Black Pirate. Kevin Mcnally as Gibbs stole every scene in which he appeared, and was a major high point of the film for me. It was reassuring to see Geoffrey Rush at the end, as he gave me hope that the third -- and I hope, final -- "P.O.C." movie will be better than this one.