Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Dead Man's Chest is the immediate follow up, and although the best of the sequels its problems are readily apparent. Now there is some good to be had in the expansion of the lore with the introduction of an effective villain in Billy Nighy's Davy Jones, and his giant kraken. That's about it though as the film struggles with its overly expansive yet never particularly compelling plot where it sets so many characters with so motivations, yet they are never earned in creating a real connection to any of their stories. This is secondary to spectacle, yet the spectacle is oddly underwhelming, or comedy which is never particularly funny this time around. Depp's whose Jack Sparrow seemed such an original and unique character here begins to become a tired parody version of his character from the first one. There is still a bit of substance here yet for the most part his mannerisms feel just like an act, and his performance feels like on autopilot of just a general weirdness most of the time. This in turn makes everything else that he made work in the first film fall flat here. There are some fun moments here though, a giant wheel, the kraken attack, yet they are not as successful in naturally serving the story as similar moments in the first film. Of course all of this is only exacerbated through excessive runtime and horrendous pacing. The film attempts complexity merely for the sake of it, and in doing so diminishes any sense of fun needed for any pirate romp.
2.5/5