Entertained at times - but overall, disappointed.

Rating: 5/10 (9 July 2006)

I took our two girls (aged 9 and 8 and suitably decked out as pirates) to see what was for us an eagerly awaited sequel. Over-all I was disappointed, but I wouldn't go as far as to say 'don't bother'.
There are some great set pieces - that are amusing and well done. But the problem for me and my wife was that the film seemed to solely exist as a vehicle for these set pieces - with little or no attention to a narrative that reasonably took you from one to the next. This is something that the first film had going for it. The three-way sword fight was a great example of this - the motivations for why all three would now all want to kill one another - especially after the feeling of camaraderie at the end of the first film - was insufficient and unconvincing....
Second point was that although it was over 2.5 hrs long it seemed 'rushed'... For us the film never really 'breathed'..and lines were 'spilt' out, rather than enjoyed...
Third point I'd like to make is about Jack sparrow. In the first movie - despite appearing intoxicated most of the time - he was still clearly rather smart and had a sense of honour. In Dead man's chest he basically sells out William Turner - with no plan to return and rescue, and little sign of remorse... This is not the same man at all, and even a return to fight the Kraken at the end fails to make up for this for me... Plus - second time around the drunken word play, logic bits were verging on embarrassing I felt. I'm afraid the actor just didn't nail it for me this time around......or else maybe this character was only good for the one movie....
Hell - there are some laughs, and as I say the set pieces are brilliantly done. The kids loved it of course, and although I wasn't as disappointed (make that angry) as I was after Matrix 2, I don't think this a worthy successor to what was a marvellously entertaining original.