The action is all over the place! ...sadly so is the plot...

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 2006)

If the target audience is those in search of some good swashbuckling mindless fun with explosions it's a bullseye. If you were hoping to follow the plot - take a notepad along...
Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are as they were in the first movie. The dynamic is still interesting, Jack Sparrow is still ducking and diving and is now so real I fear that if the wind changes Johnny Depp will stay like that. Rock on Keith! Yes, Keith Richard is truly the inspiration behind Johnny Depps portrayal of the role. In fact Keith Richards recently fell out of a coconut tree in Fiji. Which may explain the wonderful "coconut" moment early on in the movie. This movie does have many wonderful moments of humor both visual and verbal, which is just as well as you will need a degree in advanced linguistics to follow the plot which was frankly a little silly in places. For me the leading trio saved this movie. I already liked the characters and had laughed with them and at them. If this was the first movie - I'm not sure I'd have paid to see a second.
A couple of new items on the menu are worth mentioning;
Bill Nighy as Davy Jones. Bill, you need to have a word with the screenwriter. As Davy Jones you were not threatening, evil or evil-funny. You were the uncle who comes over and sits next to the fire and is a bit grumpy. I appreciate it is difficult to characterize when you have an octopus on your face - so that's when you really need the script and plot to communicate for you, and in this case, sadly it didn't. Namoie Harris as Tia Dalma. What a delight! Watch this lady - her career is going to sky rocket. She was the highlight of the movie for me. Comic timing, facial expressions and vocalization she knows exactly what she's doing, I was enchanted, I was no longer sitting in a cinema I was with her and totally absorbed.
So all in all - tighten up the script and simplify the plot for the next sequel, or leave more on the cutting room floor please. ...and by the way Keira is just starting to sound whiny and hysterically squeaky, I'd like to see her stronger and less squeaky in the next one. ...and yes, I'd like to see another one. For me the first was better, but this did not kill the franchise. It's a good fun movie - but you set my expectations higher Mr Verbinski, I'll forgive you once...but not twice.