I enjoyed it. I really, really did. Despite the high school kids in front of us who thought it was a good idea to send texts in the middle of a film… texting I don’t mind, but the bright screen in the corner of my eye really bugged me.

It’s very different from the first. While the first was a jolly romp aimed at kids, with some funny lines and so on thrown in for their parents, this one is aimed much more at adults, I think. It’s still a jolly romp, but there’s not going to be that many 12 year olds who will be entirely happy at sitting through 3 hours, I would have thought. And Jack Sparrow in Davy Jones’ locker was pretty wacky even for me; I think someone in their early teens would probably just be bored by it.

All that said, it is still a jolly romp. Geoffrey Rush is magnificent – Barbossa just keeps getting more interesting (and we find out his first name!). Orlanda Bloom – well, Will gets more complex and devious, and a bit more angsty (and I don’t usually much like PrettyBoys, but gosh he’s pretty). Keira Knightley continued to mostly annoy me, but Elizabeth did have some interesting lines – and nicely choreographed fight scenes, too. Yun Fat-Chow was brilliant as Sao Feng; a bit stereotyped as Bad Chinese Dude, but then I guess many of the other characters are ‘typed, too. Finally, finally, after all the promises and rumours, Keith Richards does indeed make an appearance – complete with guitar – and very cool he is too. And Johnny Depp… well, mostly he was brilliant, as you’d expect. Sadly, though, there were times where I was just a little bored by him. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m just used to Jack Sparrow now, so it’s not new and outrageous, or if they really have toned him down a bit. Of course, he was still entertaining and fun, but I felt it lacked a little something. Maybe I can put it down to the exigencies of having been in DJ’s Locker.

As for the plot… sometimes it really annoys me when stories have that “Ta da! Something we never mentioned nor even hinted at before is now going to be crucial!” moment. And Pirates 3 has that. (Don’t worry, I don’t intend to spoil it… I haven’t seen any ads for the movie, so I have no idea what’s been revealed or hinted at there.) But I do understand that sometimes a big revelation is the easiest way to add drama and interest etc to a story, so people take that option. I quite liked the bizarro thing they added to the movie – not sure it entirely fit, but it was entertaining. And the conclusion… well. Completely unexpected, which in itself was completely unexpected.

Go see it. It’s good.