A dismal sequel to an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 2/10 (27 July 2006)

I first had this feeling while watching 'Back to the Future 2' - of having paid to watch a sequel that is little more than a cynical set-up for the third movie to come.
Plotwise, there is no overall 'good idea' behind this movie, just a lot of unspectacular CGI 'spectacle'. Ironically, it was Depp's very amusing & engaging character, not CGI, which made the first movie the likable pantomime it was. In this second film his character is buried under the untidy plot & expensive but unexciting FX - Jack is a less vivid and engaging character here. It's a bit like meeting someone for the second time & realising they are not as charming, funny or quirky as first impressions had made them. Not Depp's fault: his character is servant to set-piece scenes at the cost of any coherence.
After all the untidy set-up, even this half-aside plot is left unresolved: you have to pay again for '3' to have any hope of that. The final nail in the coffin is the appearance, right at the end, of a character who was so conclusively disposed of in the first film that it's an affront even to pantomime-level plotting for him to re-appear.
It's really not too strong to say I was disgusted by this movie - it felt so thin & so cynical, so determined to show as little of it's hand as possible so as to protect the franchise.