Posted By: Lord Crosis (209.112.212.67) Date: Saturday, 23 December 2006, at 2:24 a.m.
With any trilogy you have to give special handling to the second in the series. The first movie has to stand on its own. The second movie spends the first third of itself tying itself to the first, the second third building a story of its own, and the third sets you up for the final portion of the trilogy. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest is the Back to the Future II, or the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy.
Anyhow, based on any reasonable measure of film-making this was well done, although by somewhat of a generic and generalized film-making standard. Worth watching, but don't expect to see anything cinematically groundbreaking. It's a good movie in a traditional sense, and it leaves you somewhat appetized (it's a word now!) for the sequel.