Certainly the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Pirates trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2006)

Of the original Star Wars movies, my least favorite of the three is The Empire Strikes Back. After the final "Pirates" film comes out next year, I think I'll be saying the same about "Dead Man's Chest", and for essentially the same reasons. Which, of course, doesn't mean it's a bad movie, just not as great as its bookends.
Actually there are quite a few similarities between these two films, but it would be extremely difficult to go into any details without including any spoilers. Suffice it to say that Captain Jack Sparrow and Han Solo have more in common than their roguish ways.
DMC seems to suffer a bit from "middle movie syndrome". It has everything the first Pirates movie had -- action, adventure, comedy, romance, undead monkeys -- but it doesn't seem to always be sure of where it's going with it all. The characters and sets are, if anything, more colorful and impressive the second time around, but pacing problems make this longish movie (at 2 hours and 30 minutes) seem even longer. Fans of the series won't much care, though, especially as the third film is a certainty, and Dead Man's Chest sets the stage for a truly epic finale.