It's amazing how great production value and top notch acting can carry a dismal storyline.

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2006)

Disclaimer: The average movie watcher will probably enjoy this film, and view it as a good summer flick remembering notable moments for some time. This review focuses on a great job from cast and crew, while emphasizing the lack of story development. Stop reading now to avoid spoilers.
All of the people working on: art, sound, acting, stunts, effects, cinematography, lighting and any crews I may have missed did an awesome job on this film. I gave this movie a 6 star rating based on their work alone. Without them this movie has nothing.
This film was more of an episode than a movie: Most of the slow points in this film appeared to be filler, added to make the episode longer and less enjoyable. Dead Man's Chest relies heavily upon viewers seeing the first film, greatly limiting the impact it can create on any given audience.
My prediction of what went wrong: Writers Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, came up with a wonderful story that was too long for a single movie and too short for two. Said storyline was then chopped up and extended to make two episodic films.
The breakdown from my perspective:
Visual Effect Department did a good job on main characters; however most of the secondary characters were lacking some level of color correction and individuality.
The story could have benefited greatly from less plot holes. There are some serious pacing problems throughout the movie causing slow points. None of the characters really accomplish anything notable for a movie of this duration. There are many wasted moments developing unimportant elements and characters.
But it looks great.
The only thing this story really accomplishes: Convinces audience to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (working title)
If you're a story lover, save the 8 bucks and rent this one.