You leave thinking Rum Swilling Pirates put this film together...

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2006)

I was introduced (dragged rather) into Pirates when the first film came out. I NEVER expected to like the film, and from a distance, it was not a film I would have ever gone to see on my own. What I wonderful surprise it was that the first Pirates film was so fantastic! The whole story for Curse of the Black Pearl was excellent. It had a clear beginning, middle, and end. Also, potentially ambiguous areas in the story were quickly and identified and cleared up (I.E. Jack's prior involvement with Barbossa, the whole bit about the gold and the curse, Will and Elizabeth's background and friendship, and so on). This level of attention to detail made the rather long film entertaining and enjoyable for the full 2 ½ hours. Even the open-ended nature of the conclusion of POTC 1 left viewers wanting more.
Dead Man's Chest however, fell VERY short in many ways. I have probably seen the first film 100 times, and I watched it before I went to see POTC 2. Thank goodness I did or I would have been totally lost! Frankly, a viewer of Dead Man's Chest would NEED to watch the first film in order to "get" all the repetitive jokes in POTC 2 since they all refer to events that occurred in Curse of the Black Pearl. Not only is the first 20 minutes of Dead Man's Chest a massive ball of confusion, but also after the first 20-30 minutes you want to say, "wait a minute, could you rewind that?"
There is no clear clarification on the actual involvement/purpose of the new Lord Beckett. There is no explanation about Captain Jack and the disbanded members of the old (but familiar) crew. The sudden introduction of a Voodoo woman (Tia Dalma) speaks with such a thick accent that her words are barely discernible. Commodore Norrington's role is very different, and although Jack Davenport's acting is superb in POTC 2, we really don't know what happened to him or how he ended up where he did. Even the entire plot surrounding Captain Jack, Bootstrap Bill, and Davy Jones is blurred by spotty explanations and additional elements that just add to the confusion.
One would think that with everything going on in POTC 2 that Elizabeth and Will would be fully included. It was disappointing to find that Elizabeth's character is flighty and exhibits little structure, and other than a few sword fights, Will is lost in the crowd. A very positive aspect of the film is that Captain Jack Sparrow is just as wonderful and swaggering as ever. However, witty and clever elements in the first Pirates flick become cheesy and cliché in Dead Man's Chest, which left this viewer thinking that the director ran out of ideas or was rushed.
The ending of Dead Man's Chest was captivating enough to make viewers "want" to know what happens next, but everything that happened prior to the ending was choppy at best with little more than spectacular graphics to hold the film together.