Dead Man's Chest falls short of mark set by the first film

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2006)

The movie begins with Will and Elizabeth's wedding day being interrupted by a power hungry European trading company with the intention and means to hang the happy couple. Will is given the chance for freedom if he can track down Jack Sparrow and return with his faulty compass. Meanwhile, Jack has been notified that time is up and it's time to devote his soul to Davy Jones for a pact made 13 years earlier. Jack realizes that the only chance he has at freedom is to find the chest that holds the heart of Davy Jones and the key that unlocks it. Unfortunately he is not the only one after the heart because who ever controls the heart controls the ocean. This allows for a complex story line where no one is to be trusted and everyone has a different plan for the heart once it is found.
The special effects were great in this and the action scenes were over the top but it seemed that the dialogue wasn't nearly as witty or snappy as in the original. That's not to say that there wasn't any funny dialog, it just seemed that the focus was more on physical humor when a laugh was needed. There are a couple of twists (that I won't spill) and an ending that leads right into the third installment (which is currently filming and due to be released next summer). The one thing I must praise about this is the addressing of a complaint I had about the first film. In the first film it was mentioned that Will's father had been strapped to a cannon and tossed overboard. Since they had all been cursed and couldn't die then that meant he was still alive throughout the first film but would've drowned when the curse was broken. He is in this film and clears up my previous grievance that I had (don't worry, this is revealed in the first five minutes of the movie). This is definitely worth paying $7 to see in the theater, but if you're wanting to get the most out of your money I still think Superman Returns is the better choice right now.
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