**THE GOOD: ‘PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST’**

WRITING: 75
ACTING: 90
LOOK: 95
SOUND: 95
FEEL: 70
NOVELTY: 75
ENJOYMENT: 75
RE-WATCHABILITY: 65
INTRIGUE: 70
EXPECTATIONS: 60

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**THE GOOD:**

Feeling bigger, bolder and at times funnier, Dead Man's Chest recreates what worked the first time and gives it a new spin to weave the first half of a bigger pirate epic. It doesn’t spare any expense in trying to feel like a true sequel while holding dearly to the characters and plot element that worked well in the first film.

Tom Hollander as new villain Lord Beckett is both annoyingly narrow-minded and conveniently vile. He brings a much-needed human antagonist into the mix and is one of the more successful villain castings I’ve seen.

Davy Jones is yet another memorable film villain, and while he is more monstrous than pirate-y, Bill Nighy makes him distinctively his own. The CGI used to make him come alive still hold up today.

I'm happy to see Keira Knightly receive a good dose of the action. Elizabeth is a strong female character, who is developed across the first three films better than any of the other central characters. Knightley portrays both the feminine and the masculine side of the character equally well.

This film is yet another successful mix of great practical effects, polished CGI and breathtaking stunt coordination. The fights feel bigger, the world feels more alive, and the attention to details remains sharp.

The three-way fight on Davy Jones’ island is probably the best action sequence of the series. It’s funny, it’s epic and it’s memorable even if it goes on and on seemingly without an end.

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**THE BAD:**

The first half is a solid, fun and comedic pirate adventure in the vein of the first film, but once Davy Jones is introduced the film slowly starts to struggle under its weight, a problem that carries over to film three. The resulting film feels at times bloated and overlong since it has to juggle so many plotlines and characters and set up the third film. The inclusion of politics, pirate faiths and beliefs and the like suddenly makes this film a whole lot more serious.

There's no real sea battle in this one, which is a shame. They are usually the best parts in pirate movies.

It’s strange how pretty much all of the magic and classic fun from the first film has been stripped away from the sequel(s). That’s the main reason the rest of the franchise never lives up to the standards set by the first film.

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**THE UGLY:**

Why haven’t Disney announced a Pintel and Ragetti-spinoff already?

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**THE VERDICT:**

_Dead Man’s Chest feels bigger and bolder compared to the original Pirate-film, but also begins the franchise’s slow descent from a magical family adventure into a bloated pirate fantasy._

**77% = :white_check_mark: = GOOD**