Now I can't wait for the third one!

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2006)

Okay, so it's not Curse of the Black Pearl...but I liked it anyway. Two complaints: the music (sorry, but it is disappointing compared to the first film's score), and the characters weren't dark enough (Barbosa and crew were scary and creepy even without all the special effects--maybe too much CGI and not enough good old fashioned stage make-up and sinister talent?). That said, there were elements of this movie that I really liked, but most of them occurred in the last half hour or so... I liked some of the new characters (Tia Dalma and Bootstrap), and the direction of some of the old characters (Elizabeth and Norington), the ending, and, of course, Jack...gotta love Jack. We watched the first movie after seeing this one, and I do have to say the tone of the first one was better...not quite as much done for yucks, and a more serious or sinister tone overall. One of the things I really liked in the first movie was the fact that Jack played both sides depending on the situation: he was goofy sometimes, but also cunning and completely sure of himself at other times--almost as if he played the goof so that people would underestimate him, because when the chips were down, he was definitely the captain...sigh... Here's hoping we'll see more of that side of him in the next movie... Overall, yeah, I loved it...I saw it three times in the first two days... And if you haven't seen it more than once, go back! These movies benefit from more than one viewing: the humor is quick, and in order to catch all the jokes and innuendo, and also fully appreciate the acting, repeated viewing is required.