Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End

Chalk up number three of the summer. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has arrived in theaters and knocked out the oh-so endearing Shrek the Third from its elevated position as the weekend top grosser. But isn't that what we expected to happen? After all, our lovable ogre lost a great deal of his mojo in his third time around the track. Same goes for Spider-Man. Thankfully, as I’d been hoping, a worthy third has hit the cinemas. Finally.

In this chapter, we find our hygieneless (?) pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) banished to Davey Jones's Locker where he has apparently taken to talking to multiples of himself to occupy the time. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) set off to find and release Sparrow -- each for their own nefarious reasons. Turner wants to turn Sparrow in to the East India Trading Company (EIT) in exchange for the Black Pearl so he can set his father free from the Flying Dutchman. Barbossa needs the pieces of eight Sparrow holds so he reconvene the brethren court of nine pirate lords. His ultimate goal is to release Calypso, the goddess of the seas. Swann has guilt issues dating back to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and sees Sparrow as the ultimate solution to defeating EIT and Davey Jones. Of course everything goes every which way but loose and allegiances and plans change as often as I change my boxer shorts on a hot summer day. It’s this fluidity caused by fractured promises and outcomes that works both for and against Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

On the one hand, it’s great because it keeps the movie fresh and invigorating. There are a myriad of side plots all twisting and flailing about, yet marching toward, the main objective. The subplots allow for the introduction of a few new characters, most notably Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) and additional face time to others from the previous movies. The director (Gore Verbinski) does a handsome job of intermixing all the characters and developments as the story progresses. It could have been extremely easy for him to lose his bearing while navigating these storylines. This is a job very well done.

On the other hand, with all these subplots, cut-tos and cut-outs it is rather easy to get confused and forget who is doing what to whom and why. An average movie goer isn’t necessarily going to follow along with all the twists and turns and may find themselves scratching their heads later in the movie. Even I’ll admit there were a few moments, albeit extremely brief moments, that I needed to try and piece back the chronology of events – something I don’t like to have to do (it detracted from my enjoyment of The Matrix Revolutions too). Although they’re done well, they just may be one too many.

Article Author: General Disdain

This writer enjoys candlelit dinners and the fast paced excitement of NASCAR. Additional reviews can be found at The Critical Critics.

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