Dead Man's Chest
Captain Jack Sparrow is a marked man. He can outrun the law, but he can't outrun the debt he owes to Davy Jones. The heartless squid-face is coming to collect and just like the first movie, Jones is just one of the people in line. Everyone is chasing Jack for a different reason and just finding him is never enough. If you remember he was "almost" caught a few times in the first movie.
Poor Captain Jack. He spends so much of this movie being scared and running away that we hardly get any quality time with the quirky personality that people fell in love with during the first movie. Luckily, a generous helping of the former cast comes back to entertain (being in either better or worse shape than the last movie). It seems everybody is seeking retribution of some form or another, including an undead monkey.
Will Turner has returned with even more heart, smarts, and thrilling heroics. And I think he has gotten oh so subtly hotter. We get to see his bare back in this movie! Can a bare chest be far behind? I hope not.
Elizabeth has been practicing her swordplay, but then I guess she can't spend all her time sipping pina colodas on Caribbean beaches. She nimbly moves completely out of the victim role in which she was cast during the last movie and decides to take matters into her own hands. Always a crafty woman, Elizabeth has to work extra hard without the use of her feminine wiles as she masquerades as a cabin boy while searching for Will and Jack. Don't worry, she gets to use those wiles in a big way later on.
What I really liked about this movie is that the characters have some great motivation. Will does more than love Elizabeth and Elizabeth does more than try to save her own skin. Try as they might to lead normal lives, both of them are drawn into the action and adventure of piracy.
Also, it pays to watch Curse of the Black Pearl right before heading to the theatre for Dead Man's Chest. There are quite a few inside jokes involving rum, eunuchs, and getting hit in the head with an oar.
There were some low points to the movie as well. Far too many scenes were drawn out for comedic effect and it got a little tired. During numerous action sequences I could have gotten up, gone to the bathroom, made some fresh popcorn and by the time I got back to my seat they would still be going at it.
My biggest issue with this movie is that there was no resolution. In fact, some things that were resolved in the last movie, got unresolved during this one. Once again I felt tricked by Hollywood. I spent 2.5 hours getting set up for the third movie.
I'm all for more screen time with my favorite stars, but if you only have enough plot for one movie then don't try to make two. And for the love of pirates don't make me wait a year to find out how things are going to end!