I definitely felt that Elizabeth Swann was empowered in PotC 1 (where she was as much of a flawed protagonist as everyone else) but that the moment she becames powerful, as in able to fight with two swords, she actually lost a lot of that. Or maybe that was just my own feeling that we've had the kickass chick so often that I regretted losing the "has to make do with her wits and strength of character" version.