The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (now with a 4th film) is actually very very well crafted. I have to say that My initial experience was as follows: Loved the first one, saw it several times. Didn't really like the second, partly cause it seemed so different, and partly because it seemed so inconsistent. Could barely watch the third one and fell asleep while watching it on rental. BUT, I just watched all three in three consecutive nights, and I really loved them. Part of the issue is that 2 & really play as one movie (a la Kill Bill) and so the 4th one is really the third "adventure" of Jack Sparrow.
But the general character of the films really draws out the always double-speaking piracy theme. You never know who is on who's side, as evidenced by the constant flow of Mexican Standoffs. For a linear thinker, this might get complicated, since so many agendas become intermingled. It also has the feel of a retcon, because so little is explained in the first film. The two critical elements are Jack Sparrow and his Magic Compass. Everything seems to revolve around those, and everyones agenda runs through those two particular entities on the screen.
The characters are really amazing, and become more and more complex, particularly the character of Elizabeth Swan who develops the most over the three movies. The emphasis on deception actually becomes critical in the third movie and so there's a lot of truths, half-truths and non-truths to juggle.
The dialogue is perhaps the one element of the story that gets a bit tiresome, it's like they ran out of pirate gags to throw into the dialogue, so everything i rehashed jokes from the first film. The aesthetic of the films is also something that changes, but the CG is really quite enjoyable, and the elements of the Caribbean world really are amazing to watch. There's actually a lot of traditional film making in the 2nd and third films, which isn't a fast enough development for many viewers.
The film also dehumanizes death a bit too much, where the death of Sao Feng is the only actual moment where death is noticed and acknowledged. But there are many layers that develop over the three films and it's really a lot of fun to watch them develop.
