Not great art but excellent entertainment

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2006)

I didn't go to see this movie to be enlightened by great art. Its not that kind of picture. Its designed primarily to entertain and to extend the "Pirates" franchise, and it succeeds brilliantly at this.
You can see elements of theme park rides and video games in the plot, a plot that's structured more like the levels of a game than the chapters of a book. This results in the only negative comment I can make about the movie -- it runs a bit long as the plot is continually stretched to fit around the action sequences. (The movie also has a definite "to be continued" feel about its ending -- but then what would you expect?) So don't expect an uplifting intellectual experience, plan to overlook the historical and technical inaccuracies, ignore the overused clichÃ©s (not English villains *again*!) and sit back and enjoy the ride. And don't forget to bring the kids.