A great ride but with flashes of disappointing deja vu.

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2006)

"Dead Man's Chest" is one of my most anticipated films of the year. Ever since I saw the first one on a hot July day in 03, I was completely blown away. Well, three years later, "POTC: Dead Man's Chest" has finally arrived into the hungry hands of pirate fans worldwide.
To start off, "Dead Man's Chest" stars all of the familiar faces we all know and love from the first installment. Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly, Jack Davenport, and all the rest are back in their usual roles. Johnny Depp, as the hilarious Captain Jack Sparrow, is once again comic dynamite and captures the audiences imagination brilliantly (by the way, he once again has a great entrance). Some of Johnny's best scenes involve him escaping in some way and because of that, the audience I was with was constantly laughing.
For those who enjoyed the quirkiness of "Curse of the Black Pearl", you'll definitely appreciate the "non-serious" feel of this film. In fact, "Dead Man's Chest" takes itself even less seriously than it predecessor. This is due to the over the top stunts, slap-stick comedy, and a plot which is even more supernatural than before.
One of the problems that "Dead Man's Chest" has is that it recycles a lot of the jokes from the first film. Thus, this installment feels like a bit of a retread, despite the fact that this film features an entirely different plot. The ending is a major cliffhanger and definitely builds immense excitement for the third film. "Dead Man's Chest" purposely answered little questions about the plot (much to the frustration of the audience). Because it didn't answer a lot of questions, I'm not entirely raving this film. I'm well aware there is a third film after this but during a two and a half hour movie, audience's want answers to some of the burning questions in the plot. "Dead Man's Chest" is silent on this issue.
Overall, "Dead Man's Chest" is an enjoyable, and decent romp but is a bit too over-the-top for it's own good. In my opinion, I preferred it's predecessor where the plot was much simpler and the laughs wonderfully original. If your a fan of Johnny Depp or Pirates, this is naturally a must see. I'm just not sure if it's entirely worth a second viewing at the theatre.
7/10