Decent, Yet Takes The Franchise Into Strange Territory.

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2014)

Obviously a considerable amount of hype went into the sequel after such a stellar first movie. With a sub-title like "Dead Man's Chest", anything could happen and there is a plethora of pirate lore to pick from.
Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann's (Keira Knightley) marriage is interrupted, as Will is acquired to collect a compass from Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to find the "Dead Man's Chest". Meanwhile, Sparrow discovers his debt to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is due and so begins the race for the chest, whilst having to escape the clutches of Davy Jones's pet, "The Kraken".
Things to definitely admire this time around are Bill Nighy's wonderful contributions as a performer. Watching him reveals an inner conflict to the character, that never surfaces to an extent where it appears formulaic. Johnny Depp is still wonderful, and definitely keeps true to the character he made iconic in so little time. Plus, the movies $225 million budget spares no expense in terms of stunts and visuals.
Unfortunately, for as decent as the visuals are in this picture the story is pretty dull. The film-makers certainly enjoy bringing a sense of "darker" elements this time around, but it felt like everything else was sacrificed in the process. Most character development is shoddy, and the dialogue isn't much either. All in all, I still love Gore Verbinski's camera work and the level of development is admirable, yet the narrative can't help but feel dumbed down into many Hollywood cliché's. Those well choreographed fight scenes now implement some intentionally hammy stunts and mishaps that never descend the movie into slapstick, but certainly more style over substance.
Final Verdict: A movie worth seeing for performances alone, however everything else is severely lacking. 6.5/10.