with dead mans chest the pirates of the caribbean make the jump from one time sugar rush to full fledged franchise. its a good idea, since that fictional world has tons of potential and the characters are great. the filmmakers get almost everything right: the characters we all fell for are back, new fun characters are introduced (my favorite being Naomie Harris as voodoo priestess Tia Dalma), and there is lots of kinetic action, a good sense of humor, lovely visuals and some spooks. unfortunately, the film is burdened with a incomprehensibly complicated plot that sucks away a lot of energy. it doesn't help that the film goes on for much too long and spends a lot of time focusing on Will Turner (played by Orlando Bloom) who is the least interesting of the three main characters. the story involves at least three major parties, all of which have secret motives and keep lying and double-crossing one another. its probably best to not think too much about the plot and just enjoy the ride and see where the film takes you. dead mans chest is ultimately a bit of a disappointment, but as it turned out, its just the build-up for the next entry, which is much better.
