Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

I thought it was a remarkably entertaining film. I loved the first one to bits as I loved the seven seas hijinks. This film, of course, was going to be more of the same. It is, afterall, a sequel to a pirate movie, so it's not going to be radically different. If you look at the film in its basic form, it's virtually identical to the first one: an (effectively) undead baddie crew, Jack, Will (and now Elizabeth) on the run from the officials etc etc. However, while the basic (and I mean basic) story is the same, it doesn't feel it. It's fresh, exciting and, surprisingly, unpredictable.

Johnny Depp is, once again, completely superb. It's understandable that Jack Sparrow will eventually grate and get on peoples nerves. However, I still love him. How long did it take for there to be a character quite like him? IMO, Captain Jack Sparrow is still a refreshing and wonderfully portrayed character.
I also have to find myself saying that Orlando Bloom was rather brilliant. OK, so brilliant's perhaps too strong, but of the films of his I've seen, this has been his best performace. Better than Paris, better than Legolas and better than Will Turner from the first film.
Kiera was also surprisingly good. Her performance was satisfactory and at the end where she

Spoiler:

chains Jack to the Pearl just before it gets destroyed so that they can all escape

was, I thought, very powerful.
And now the character most people overlook: Commodore James Norrington. I like the ol' Commodore, always have. I also think Jack Davenport is a very good, very underrated and very underused actor. It was great to see how he's changed from uptight officer of the Empire to scruffy bugger who's living in Tortuga. It was also nice to see how he's become a bit of a bad-ass.
And I gotta say, Bill Nighy was great as Davy Jones. That scene of him playing the organ with his tentacles was remarkably cool and one of my favourite parts of the movie.

As for favourite scenes, well, the organ scene has already been mentioned. Black Pearl vs the Kraken was also remarkably well done. The monkey scene was also fantasic. Ah, that's it, the choreography was also fantastic.
As for bad, well,

Spoiler:

I though that the whole Jack/Elizabeth thing was a bit pants. I can understand wanting to ditch Orlando Bloom for Johnny depp, but not Will for Jack. Admittedly, Bloom and Knightly have the on screen chemistry of a damp piece of paper, but still...

Overall, I thought the film was very, very well done. It wasn't as good as the first, I think, but it holds up well and considering its sequel handicap it was remarkable.

Overall score:
A healthy 8.5 out of 10.

Jam it back in, in the dark.