worthy of watching but plays on previous successes

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 2006)

In the first Pirates edition, we are enthralled by all of the new characters and excitement, and everything is new. In the second, the primary characters become more known and developed, and the good and bad (or thereabouts) come to final conflict.
In this third edition, the writers succumb to a more lackluster plot, scattered with various complicated and less exciting sub-plots. New characters, more worthy of Disney action-figure profits, are introduced.
The acting is still top-notch. But the plot is weaker, and we found ourselves frequently more bored in the lulls than enthralled as with the previous two Pirates movies. The plot plays up all of the previous primary characters as though trying to rally forces, but each becomes embroiled in the sub-plots, and the overall continuity and excitement suffers greatly as a result.