They made a huge mistake with Pirates of the Caribbean. They should have made it like Indy/James Bond, one off stories with new characters each time aside from a few key villains/allies and Jack always in the middle of it all.
The second two films should have been 'standalone'. Characters like Jack's first mate, the monkey, Barbossa, the two goons (i forget their names) should have remained as recurring characters, but they should have ditched orlando and kira after the first film as they were too much of a focus. It should be that every story starts a fresh with the scaffolding in place, ready for a new adventure, again like Indy. They have created one hell of a hero with Jack, but he ended up bogged down by pointless subplots and love stories, the focus should be more on him!
Hopefully this film is a step in the right direction...