Really Could Have Been Better

Rating: 3/10 (9 July 2006)

I walked into this movie with very low expectations (which i figure is generally a good way to escape disappointment) and to my surprise still left disappointed. Very disappointed.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is filled with mind blowing CGI, at times great lines, and a few memorable scenes. However, just taking these few ingredients and stirring them all together does not equal a movie. Why not? Well, a movie needs a plot. And not just several pointless plots thrown together haphazardly to add to length. It needs at least one substantial plot. That feature is what this movie regrettably lacks.
There are a lot of subplots in this movie, such as Will Turner's (Bloom) run in with his barnacle covered estranged father, Elizabeth's (Knightly) crush on Jack Sparrow, and a detour to a tropical cannibalistic island that lasted much too long. Through all this and the gratuitous violence and gore it's difficult to figure out exactly where the dead man's chest comes in.
The acting was decent in this movie. Depp (though he has lost some of his Keith Richards persona in this movie) and Knightly are always worth watching, though Orlando Bloom leaves much to be desired.
It's not that the movie has no potential. With a good editor, who, if he really is good, would cut out a good hour of this movie, it could be almost as good as the first.