Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

A ride in which you alternately switch from a Trabant to a racing car. However, this unbalanced mix of lengthy workarounds, overstuffed plot and diabolical action is still worth seeing, if only because of the amazing Billy "Davy Jones" Nighy, who proves that even with just the eyes and suggestive voice modulation you can perform miracles. (14/08/2006)

Needless bombast and excessive length versus great sea monsters and a slimy (literally and to the letter!) villain played by Bill Nighy and his makeup/digital magicians. Johnny Depp is equally good, but he has nothing left to surprise us with. Throw out part of that storyline and cut the runtime down to 120 minutes, and this would be worthy of four stars. (08/08/2006)

The most treacherous part of the trilogy, and not just in terms of the behavior of the characters. Perhaps it would be appropriate to say that the second part deserved to be cut and combined with the third into one movie, but that probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Even I have caught myself wanting to watch Pirates all the time, and while that doesn't mean that Dead Man's Chest is flawless. It is really overloaded, some plotlines are pointless (the cannibals), some desperately unremarkable, but who cares when it's such fun. The endlessly mentioned fight on the mill wheel and everything around it, together with the final performance by the Kraken, is a true adrenaline delight. (30/05/2007)

Pirates of the Caribbean unexpectedly became the most successful pirate film in the last 25 years, after the genre was perfectly discredited by romantic B-movie crap by second-rate directors. Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed with ease, humor, and originality, without much interference from the producers, so the crew had freedom, and, for example, Johnny Depp could afford to have his peculiar acting, portraying the pirate captain as a hippie who just smoked a joint. However, in the sequels, it is visible how much the studio had expected from the film, and this desire to fulfill obligations had an unfavorable impact on this film. Despite the high budget, the same cast, and ubiquitous effort, it is more cumbersome and over-embellished, and in the end, it doesn't hold together. Especially when, unlike its predecessor, it doesn't have a story with a point and not only leaves room for further sequels but rather feels like an episode from a series that ends with an invitation for the next installment through a cut in a suspenseful scene. Some scenes, such as the duel in the ruins of an old mill and the subsequent swordfight between the blades of a broken mill wheel, however, are highlights that adorn any top-notch blockbuster. Overall impression: 60%. (23/10/2010)

I found the sequel to the highly successful Pirates of the Caribbean to be on the same level as the first one - Jack Sparrow is still as crazy and funny, Liz Swan is still the same “fragile damnsel” ... and now the irresistible Davey Jones, whose appearance inspires fear and respect, has been added. There were plenty of funny scenes that didn't really make me laugh, but still entertained. The visuals of the Kraken and his were good, as was the unmistakable soundtrack. In short, once again, a nice dose of humour with a somewhat excessive running time. (16/10/2010)