everyone progresses... except for knightley

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2006)

i enjoyed this movie more than the first, mostly because the best thing in the first movie (johnny depp) is given more screen time. he continues to play with his character here with some very funny scenes indeed. i really hope they manage to get keith richards involved in the third one, as the pair on screen at the same time would be a hoot
will is also far better in this movie, mostly because his relationship with his father gives him some emotional depth
the worst thing about the first movie (knightley), luckily is in this movie the least. she gives us precisely the same pouting facial expressions as normal, and offers nothing new here at all. she is certainly given the opportunity to act... she has to pretend to be a boy for a good portion of the movie. but other than being flat chested she is not convincing
i'm a little worried about how the 3rd movie is set up, as it looks like depp won't appear in it for some considerable time. so i would have preferred a different ending to this movie.
as usual these days the movie is slightly too long, with some scenes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. but overall i liked it a lot. some brilliantly choreographed action scenes... and i also loved the gnarled looking sea dwelling band of pirates (especially the hammer head one, great). go see it