The sequels were about as "good" as the Matrix sequels.
Although they had a couple of interesting moments, the writers seemed to think that if something was mentioned ever so briefly in the first movie, the next two movies should center around it.
And the execs seemed to realize they had a moneymaker on their hands and forgot what made the first movie so much fun.
Stephen Day wrote:
They did, and it was a much better movie than 2 and 3. Then again, since it was based on a book that Disney bought the rights to and then adapted into a Pirates of the Caribbean film, it was bound to be better due to having a more solid creative base than 2 and 3.
From what I hear, they didn't even have a finished script when they started filming the third PotC movie.