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

Hollywood’s really got a thing about threesomes this summer. Not content with a simple sequel, studios responsible for some of the major blockbusters have done their best to cash in on audience goodwill by setting highly anticipated number threes in the Spider-Man, Shrek, and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises upon audiences hungry to lose themselves in big screen fantasy adventures. Spider-Man 3 obliterated box office records even while critics blasted away at its many downfalls. Likewise Shrek the Third was met with less than stellar reviews and still broke a couple of box office records.

So is the third time the pinnacle (rhymes with tentacle in keeping with the nautical theme) of the Pirates franchise? Yes, and no. At World’s End blows the other Pirates films out of the water when it comes to the sheer overwhelming splendor of its action sequences and special effects. But it fails to live up to the good, clean fun of the original Pirates movie which had such a sweetly innocent tone to it that neither follow-up has been able to recapture. Starting off At World’s End with a mass hanging (including that of a small child) signals this third – and perhaps final – film of the series is more about swashbuckling action than about charmingly goofy characters.

The Story

Everything you need to know about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End can be summed up in a few short sentences. Everyone, and I do mean e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, cheats, lies, steals, backstabs, fights, and holds meetings. Captain Jack’s back and needs to get to the end of the world. Captain Barbossa’s also back (woohoo!) along with his adorable monkey and ready to kick some butt while sort of assisting Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). There’s a bunch of other high-ranking pirates involved as well as the return of Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) as the soothsayer. The East India Trading Company (boo-hiss) with Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) in charge and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in his control has everyone on edge and ready for war. Everything else about the plot is inconsequential. Detach your brain and just wait for the action scenes to carry you away.

The Plot Thickens

Here’s the deal and it’s a simple one. Disney has requested all critics withhold revealing any specific plot details when it comes to how storylines wrap up and how issues left dangling from the two previous movies are resolved. That official edict from the studio is entirely understandable. No one wants to walk into a film knowing how it ends, not even critics. But Disney’s request wasn’t really necessary. The statement’s author didn’t take into consideration that critics (make that this critic, I don’t want to speak for others) will not only not understand what’s going on for three-quarters of the film, but won’t follow the mini-dramas unfolding amongst dozens of characters closely enough to really care about neatly tied up plotlines.

Surviving a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End with your sanity intact requires you to completely ignore any time a character gets talkie and explains what he/she intends to do and just concentrate on the scattered jokes and Disney gags and, of course, the astounding gorgeous effects and intricate fight scenes. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End makes Dead Man’s Chest seem as easy to follow as a first-graders school book. A special Pirates 3 for Dummies should be available upon exiting the theater so as not to leave the masses in a state of aggravated confusion. I’m not joking. I’d love for anyone to explain to me who did what to whom and why they did it when they did it with the group they did it with and how they knew the other group was doing something equally as dastardly.

The Acting

Johnny Depp has perfected the part of the sashaying buccaneer but also manages to deliver a performance that seems fresher than his take on Captain Jack in the second Pirates adventure. Depp’s reinvigorated approach to the saucy captain could be in part due to the reappearance of scene-muncher Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. Rush just goes with it this time, not pulling anything back and playing the role of the biggest scalawag on the seas as if he was born in the days when pirates ruled the oceans and personal hygiene was something only landlubbers cared about.

Bloom and Knightley’s Will and Elizabeth, bless their beautiful hearts, just aren’t fleshed out enough to be interesting. The ever-dependable Bill Nighy is once again terrific as the tentacled Davy Jones. Stellan Skarsgard returns as Will Turner’s crustacean-encrusted dad Bootstrap Bill and does fine with his part. The same can be said for Jack Davenport as James Norrington and the merry pirate crew featuring stand-outs Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg. It’s more of the same old shenanigans from the piratey lot, although figuring out where their allegiances lie is not worth the brainpower it would take to decipher the plot.

Chow Yun-Fat portrays one of movies most confusing characters. Who knows what side his Sao Feng character is on because even though his scenes are incredibly talkie, it’s near impossible to follow the flow of his story.

There’s a treasure chest full of supporting players who pop in and out of the film including Mr. He Might or He Might Not Have Snorted His Dad himself, Keith Richards. The much ballyhooed appearance of Richards in the movie takes place during one of the film’s dozens of meetings, but because he’s ‘Keith Richards Rock Star’ his appearance really stands out. And yes, he’s good and yes, that was one sweet job of casting.

The Bottom Line

Love it or loathe it, one thing you can’t say about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is that they scrimped on the visual effects budget. This is by far the most stunningly beautiful and creepily imaginative visual treat of the bunch. The attention to even the minutest of details is obvious as At World’s End now is the new standard every other CGI-expansive big budget studio film has to beat.

Captain Jack Sparrow is as conflicted over his actions in At World’s End as I am over writing this review. Pirates 3 didn’t shiver me timbers but it did redeem the franchise from the depths Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest had sunk the series to.

GRADE: B-/C+ (B for effects and for reuniting Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. C for confusing the heck out of this reviewer.)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was directed by Gore Verbinski and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence and some frightening images.