The adventure continues but not as good as the 1st - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Reviews

Three Stars out of Four "The adventure continues with the help of Johnny Depp - but the simplicity and fun that we enjoyed in the first film is often nowhere to be found." The fact that I was almost certain that this movie would not be better than the original probably helped. This left me undissapointed in the fact that it was not better, or as good, as the first Pirates. But Dead Man's Chest itself, is a dissapointment. The characters and their qualities that we so admirably love are somewhat lessened in the sequel, and when we would expect more screen time from the main players - what we recieve are boring new characters who we couldn't care less about. The plot and story that was so interesting yet simple in the first film let the action, comedy, and characters carry the film and plotline. Yet in Dead Man's Chest, the plot is extremely too complicated for a fun, summer blockbuster. In the sequel, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers he owes a blood debt to Davy Jones. Sparrow must find a way out of his debt or else he will be sentenced to eternal life in solitude, working on the Flying Dutchman, Jones' ship. Elizabeth (Kiera Knightley) and Will (Orlando Bloom) are brought into the plot when they are arrested for helping Sparrow in the previous film. Will is told he will be released along with Elizabeth if he finds Jack Sparrow and takes something that belong to him and gives it to Lord Bennett. If you're saying to yourself - well, how complicated can that be? The movie makes it more complicated than it should be by throwing in scenes that matter very little and just add confusion. There were scenes that were very unnecessary, and several that went on way too long - and became a bit boring, unfortunate as it is to say. I also had a bit of trouble interpreting some of the characters' words, as some of their accents provided problems, as well as their volume while speaking. The comedic moments are not as many as in the first film, but don't get me wrong, I did laugh out loud entusiastically several times. Some of the action sequences went too over the top on CGI. While the scenes are still very entertaining, I found myself wondering during some of them "What happened to the fun in the simplicity of the fight scenes in the first movie?" I discovered that the fight sequences were dull until the second half of the film. And that's when I found a lot of things to change. The second half of Dead Man's Chest became what the whole movie should have been. We have an incredible fight sequence on an island, integrated with comedy that was clearly the highlight of the movie for me. We were left with the return of a great character, creating a wonderful yet terrible cliffhanger, as it leaves us in anticipation of the final installment. The CGI, make-up, and costumes are incredible - they did indeed exceed the first films. While it is human to compare Dead Man's Chest to the original film, try not to. You will be dissapointed. But don't get me wrong, the film is still a great adventure - and even when the plot is left behind, the adventure and comedic moments are still priceless, and leave us in eager anticipation for the next Pirates. Review courtesy of "TTMReviews ****.com