NOT using spoiler tags...
It was disappointing, too plot-oriented, not as beautifully filmed, and repeated too many of the first movie's brilliant jokes. But I enjoyed myself. Had a good time. And as a 2.5 hour preview for the third movie, I AM still looking forward to it. I have a feeling, once the first wave of disappointment has run its course, I'll enjoy it upon second viewing. Expectations for this movie were awfully high, after all.
I LOVED Bill Nighy and his Davey Jones character. And the Cracken (sp?) is a great monster, but it's too bad that its fight with the Black Pearl wasn't the first time we see the monster in full. The teaser, where it cracks the first ship into the water, as if it just sucks it in, was scary. And then the second battle where we see the monster revealed is great. But you go for a climax that includes that very same kind of battle, and it loses it's impact. That was a problem. (Though I wouldn't trade it in, since I totally loved the image of Sparrow running into it headlong. That was fantastic.)
I didn't really mind the film being darker than the first, and what I mean by darker is showing some more of Sparrow's true colors. I don't really find it all that hard to believe that he would sacrifice a friend. Sets up his redemption, anyhow. I am totally into the love triange and am not embarrassed to admit it. I continue to dig Captain Norrington (liked what they did with him). I like that the compass that shows what your heart wants the most seems to point to Sparrow (when Elizabeth holds it). Because I don't think it is JUST Jack that it's pointing to; it's her freedom. I think she'd take a life on the high seas over tea in a parlor room any day of the week. And when she said, "I am so ready to be married," I'm pretty sure she was talking about the beast with two backs. J. Sparrow seemed pretty sure, as well. Heh.
Sparrow represents all she secretly desires, the foil being that he's still capable of great cowardice and disloyalty...Until, of course, he comes back. And god bless the way that scene was shot, with the low angle, the sun beaming down and her all curled up around his legs. Hah!
She's then figured out what the Cracken really wants, and she condems him for it. That was a nice twist, I think. And if SHE is what he wants most in the world (his return to the ship, we assume, is based on the compass pointing her way, or the Pearl's, way), it seems likely that he fell in love with her the moment she shackled him to the mast. Calling her a pirate, after all, was probably the biggest compliment he could bestow on a women.
And since Will was always, to me, the most boring character (though I *like* him), him getting a bit of the shaft in the sequel didn't really bother me all that much.
I'm surprised by anyone who wasn't at least expecting a love triangle to develop. There was no way they were going to ignore the possibility of at least an attraction over the course of three movies, and there was - IMO - enough chemistry between Depp and Knightley (even in the first one) to justify exploring their potential. And it's easy enough for me to enjoy the flirtation, since I *don't* see that kind of chemistry between her and Bloom. And he's the less interesting character to watch.
Then Geoffrey Rush, who I love, gets the last scene. I figured it'd be him when I saw the man's boots in the bayou hut. (Loved that nab from the ride.) I figured he would survive by the monkey stealing the treasure again. At the end of the first movie, all the treasure is returned so the curse is broken. If someone else comes along to steal the treasure, only they'd be cursed. So if the monkey took a coin and gave it to a dying...dying...very nearly fully dead Barbossa, he could easily be made immortal again. His wounds would heal. And then he'd just have to return the small amount of coinage he and the monkey had. Though it appears the monkey got away with a coin anyway. I assume, apple-bite and all, that Barbossa is mortal this time around. So, YAY!
As for the third movie, I did hear one thing (not content specific, but I'll use spoiler tags):