It’s impossible not to compare this movie with its predecessor, and sadly, it’s lacking in every respect. Where “Black Pearl” was action-packed, comedic, and didn’t take itself too seriously, “Dead Man’s Chest” was serious and plodding. The action beats were few and far between; when the ‘water wheel sword fight’ started, I looked at my watch and thought, “Geez, it takes an HOURANDFORTY-FIVEMINUTES to get fun?” Part of the problem is that while Barbossa and his crew were funny and scary, Davy Jones and his crew weren’t funny at all, and were left trying way too hard to be creepy. Yes Disney, we know you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the sfx pirates. They just don’t look good. You could still sell your action figures with half the amount of screen time.

Acting-wise, Stellan Skarsgard and Jack Davenport were magnificent, and Depp performed adequately (if lacking a little something). Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly, although not bad per se, weren’t given much to do. The story was padded and none of the characters had believable motivation. Plus, Captain Jack went from “rapscallion” to “thoroughly dislikeable” at one point in the movie, and while it’s not something that bothered everyone, it sure as hell bothered me.

On the risk of sounding too downbeat, there were some good moments. I really did enjoy the big fight scene towards the end, and about half of the Kraken moments were good (the other half could have been easily cut down). But “Dead Man’s Chest” was simply not much fun. I can only hope for more swashbuckling and comedy in “End of the World”, but something tells me they’re going to keep this serious tone. This franchise was based on a ride, for god’s sakes: make it FEEL like one.

When I saw it my first thought was: God, I’d expected so much more!

Then I realised there isn’t much more to be expected. I mean, The Curse of The Black Pearl was sooo awesome, nothing can compare with it. I was just a little disappointed with Johnny Depp, because he didn’t show anything new here. I still love his character, but Jack didn’t improve at all.

And s.th. else-what were there sparks between him and Elizabeth?! He fancies her for sure-she’s charming, beautiful, powerful even. But Will did soo much for her, he changed so that she fell in love with him. Do you think she’d risk all that because of a unstable pirat, even if he is that gorgeous?

I enjoyed the movie. It had the action and humor of the first. Unfortunately, it was nothing but an ad for the third part. Nothing is resolved.

I fell asleep halfway through the first “Pirates” movie. Same thing happened with this one. Woke up after a nice nap, only to find that the movie still wasn’t over.

Too long. Too many stunts, not enough story. No resolution to any of the major plot points. The grotesqueness of the Flying Dutchman crew consistently grossed me out. And I did not like the cliffhanger ending at all.

I think Kylie Minogue (already in the ninetees) sang all that needs to be said about the film:

“Too many, too much, too hard,

Help me, this time I went too far”

So it wasn’t brilliant and it was very slapstick… I found some very amusing and clever elements, plus Norrington…mmm…Norrington. Right, so I recommend people see this mainly because I’m OCD when it comes to series, so everyone should see every movie in a series, good or not so good. Oh, even if you don’t like it…Depp…mmm…Depp.

I had heard a lot of varying things about it from other people before I finally saw. Some said it was good, some said it wasn’t, and many said it was way too long. I have to say thatI agree with the way too longness—those fight scenes took forever and they didn’t seem terribly necessary in advancing the plot. That being said, I still liked the movie. And it was really funny, I found myself laughing through the whole movie. However, maybe I just have a really weird sense of humor since my friend and I seemed to be the only ones in the theater laughing. However, the funniness is why I say this movie is frolicking good fun and worth consuming. Otherwise, that sword fighting scene with the giant wheel was enough to drive anyone crazy.

I was expecting that this movie would leave the story open for a sequel, but this really went to the extreme. In fact, the end of the movie left so much unresolved that I really feel like it was only half of a really long movie. So…since I’ve really only seen half of the movie, I’m not going to write a review quite yet.

Not as good as the first, but I digged it. I feel like it had been a while since I’d seen a movie that was actually exciting.

A common sin of modern action/adventure movies are the “Twenty Minute Action Scene That Really Lasts Way Too Long, Is Not Related To The Plot, And Gets Boring After Awhile.” POC2 had a few of those scenes.

Still, when all was said and done, it was an extremely enjoyable movie, and I can’t wait for the third one.

Though low on plot and about 30 minutes too long, Dead Man’s Chest compensates the veiwer with some visually stunning fight sequences and the pure charm and likability of the characters. That and a cliffhanger ending will ensure that the masses return for the third installment.

Captain Jack Sparrow is back!

With more SFX, more of the extremely lovable Jack Sparrow and more characters thrown into the mix of supernatural lore, Dead Man’s Chest is a fun voyage.

A couple of grips though (spoiler alert):

The funny one-liners and witty remarks are lacking in this sequel to Curse of the Black Pearl. The pithy exchanges between Jack and Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) was one of the main reason for Curse’s success. In Dead Man’s Chest, there is no one that is able to adequately rise to the challenge.

Dead Man’s Chest is also a tad too long. Certain parts could have been better edited.

Am also not sure about the budding love triangle between Jack, Will and Elizabeth – or maybe I’m just jealous ;)

It’s still lots of fun though and the highlight is still Captain Jack and his escapades. Although in this one, he does find himself in situations where he is unable to talk himself out of trouble. Davy Jones and his crew look great and the Flying Dutchman is impressive. Dead Man’s Chest is essentially the middle part of the trilogy so it does feel slightly unsatisfactory when it ends. However, the unexpected return of Barbosa almost makes up for it though.

So with the return of Barbosa, the love triangle and the rescue of Jack Sparrow, the final installment At World’s End looks set to end the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy with a big bang.

Save for the fact that Keira Knightley had WAY too much screen time, I really enjoyed this. It was a little cheesy sometimes, but in a fun way, so that you laugh even though you oughta know better. And despite my lack of love for Keira, I thought the shifting of her ties to Will are really for the better, because anything that makes her character less boring, great.

It is, of course, one of the most crucial decisions that we must all make, often before we are old enough to understand the lifelong obligations it carries: ninja or pirate? Unless someone makes a worthy successor to Crouching Tiger sometime soon, this kind of propaganda for the buccaneering lifestyle will drive an entire generation to opt for the way of cutlass, peg-leg and parrot. But that would be no bad thing. Yarr.

I have to say, my lunch nearly didn’t survive this one. There were a LOT of squishing, spurting, half-aquatic zombies. There were birds pecking out eyes. There were phlegm-spewing Krakens. Squish squish.

However, it was TONS of fun! And you finally get to see Johnny Depp make out with someone! In general, the plot was lighter and the villain was practically congenial. As a second film in a trilogy, it worked perfectly – it lays groundwork and it’s pure entertainment along the way. The bottom line: it’s exactly what you expect it to be: corny, funny, swashbuckling, visually exciting. Very fun summer movie

We saw this this morning at a 12:30 am showing. I did not like the first movie, but I liked this one. Of course there was not real conclusion, a la Empire Strikes Back, leaving it completely open for a 3rd movie to complete a trilogy. Don’t go expecting much plot, but the entertainment value is high.

So, i took in a midnight viewing, chatted about Eldest (because i was reading it while i was waiting and the people behind me were in the middle of it), and was a bit shocked by what i saw. As far as sequels go this was not the best… but it most certainly not the worst, either. It had several good moments, was cornier than the original, and a maddening yet awesome conclusion. Let’s just say it’s growing on me. It was neat to go when i did because the crowd was loud (duh! don’t go to a midnight viewing and expect it to be quiet) and many seemed to appreciate it even more than i did.

And the only SPOILERS you’re going to get from me…

As a side note, i was a little upset not to see more of Orli (sorry, Bloom) climbing the sail (because it was in the preview) but that really was not important to the plot, i just happen to be a Bloom fan. But this nowhere equates to how upset i was to see AGAINSPOILER Elizabeth flirting with Sparrow and what became of that. My heart just broke for will. Sorry for the yelling, but it did. Everyone seemed to do things that were a bit out of character from the first film, but hey, characters change, look what happened to Vaughn on Alias (but that’s a whole ‘nother casket of bones).

Just got back from this…the first half was interesting; but the second half was basically lots of action scenes. Overall I think it was good, but not really good enough to be as long as it was. I didn’t completely waste my time, but I can definitely think of better ways to spend it. Really, it seems like some chunks could be removed without affecting the plot at all…(cough cannibals)

On a less seriously critical note, why were there so few known pirate accessories? I don’t remember even one eye patch, peg leg, or hook. But I could just be too tired to remember them.