User reviews

AWE was a decent close to the trilogy (although they did leave it open for the possibility of a 4th).

Lets go down the list: 1) Holy cow. The CGI is breathtaking. The details on the sets is just as breathtaking. The filming sites were beautiful. These are a talented group of folks I tell ya. GREAT job.

2) Acting .. both good and bad. Sparrow, Barbossa, Beckett, Norrington, Jones, and Gibbs provided some very good acting and funny moments. However, they were offset by Pintel and Ragetti (they got annoying in the 2nd film and it didn't stop here. While I enjoyed the idea of Tia Dalma's character, I wasn't impressed with the performance by beautiful Miss Harris. I haven't especially liked Keira all that much in other things she has done and it was the same here. Decent actress but not overly impressive. Stellan's portrayal of Bill Turner was decent enough but a notch down from what we KNOW he can do. Now the best for last. Im a 100% hetero male and even I can say that Orlando Bloom is a VERY good looking guy. But for the love of pete, this guy is one of the most terrible actors ever and strangely, he was cast in two of the biggest, most profitable trilogies ever. He has essentially played the same character in every movie, just with different costumes. His mannerisms, his low "sexy" voice, his facial expressions .. ALLLL the same, all the time. Sooo blahhhhhhh.

3) The story was good but there was too much of it. It has been said here but I will say it again. At one point, I just stopped trying to follow along and just enjoyed it. Everyone stabbed everyone else in the back at least once. It wasn't "hard to follow" but a movie like this isn't supposed to make you think. You want that, go see .... Clue :P the whole Singapore thing was just unneeded. While it did add a new element to the film, it just seemed too forced.

4) Running time was a tad bit long but it passed fairly quickly due to the great action sequences.

All in all .. I was impressed with the movie, but it has its problems. Much like part 2.

I say go and see it. You wont be disappointed but you wont walk out thinking you just saw a masterpiece either.

Just my thoughts ...

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007, Dir. Gore Verbinski)

After losing Jack Sparrow to the locker of Davy Jones, the team of Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan and Captain Barbossa make their final alliances with the pirate world to take on the forces of Lord Cutler Beckett and his crew, including Davy Jones, who he now has control over. It's not going to be easy, as they must rescue Sparrow, convince all the pirate lords to join them and defeats Beckett, whilst each individual pirate has their own route which they wish to follow.

It's often a sad time for me, when i see a trilogy come to an end. There are so many great characters that you really do start to miss them. Unfortunately, trilogies always seem to have the problem are living up to the previous movies. 'At World's End' falls into this category. The characters are great as always with Geoffrey Rush bringing Barbossa back to life as much as he did in the first movie. The special effects are amazing again, with some beautiful crafted fight sequences and Davy Jones looking even more realistic. The music is fun again but disappointing compared to the first two films. The main problem with this film is the story. It's not the most easy to follow story and can really make you think for a bit. Still, the third 'Pirates' movie is a roller-coaster of a movie.

"Do you fear death?" - Davy Jones (Bill Nighy)

This third installment is just as long, fixes some of the damages but adds along new ones. At Worlds End improves on its CGI magic but still possesses that dragging story that is just too long and confusing.

Less than a year after the previous installment of the popular pirates trilogy, Jack Sparrow and company return in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The film should be great, given a three hundred million dollar budget, huge anticipation, and the closure a third installment inevitably brings to a series. While this film does show its budget and is quite visually arresting, it lacks a fair share of resolution to the trilogy and confuses with its overflowing exposition rather than purely existing to entertain.

Even in an action packed pirate movie, overly chatty sequences will simply bore audiences just because it's too hard to follow what exactly is being said. The movie really just had too many vague or unnecessary plot points that didn't affect the main plot at hand.

All the acting was perfectly fine, with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbosa unsurprisingly being the standouts. The introduction of Depp's character in the pirate equivalent of Hell called Davy Jones' Locker is a particular favorite, as well as the scenes at World's End, which somehow involves a giant, deep waterfall. Keith Richards' hyped cameo as Jack's father is nothing to go crazy for, he does a decent job, but his screen time lasts only about two minutes.

Director Gore Verbinski and his crew knew going into this that the reviews would be mixed and the plot would be confusing (in order to encourage repeat viewings), but honestly, at nearly three hours, the more the film confuses you the more it becomes an endurance test. Also, rather than providing a satisfying conclusion to the series, the end opens up the possibility for a fourth installment, which might not even happen. The crew put every penny of the film's budget on screen, made evident in the hour or so of its bloated climax. The film looks and feels like a true epic, shots are wide, locations are vast, costumes are extravagant, and the scope is large. However, the film needs to scale down its plot in order to let the characters we fell in love with stand out and shine, as that's what makes these films unique.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the third and last of the money spinning trilogy, or so they say. Everything has led to this, or so they say again and I kept my mind opened. The first of the Pirates series, The Curse of the Black Pearl was good. It was a movie out of nothing or more correctly a movie inspired by nothing more than a Disney theme park ride. Having said that however the creation of Captain Jack Sparrow was nothing short of inspirational. Captain Jack played by the charismatic Johnny Depp became the talisman of Pirates of the Caribbean. Thought to be dead when we saw him charging into the jaws of monster octopus Kraken toward the end of Dead Man's Chest (the sequel), he is to be brought back from the dead in this latest film.

I have to be honest; I hated Dead Man's Chest. Its various plots and subplots were terribly tangled and confusing. It was hard to follow what sort of story or motives the movie wants to say. I blamed my lack of understanding for not comprehending Dead Man's Chest. That was summer of last year but since then I have done my research, for the billion dollars making movie was to have a third installment. Having seen one and two, I have to see three. But if I do not understand two then how can I go ahead with three. And so after a better understanding of two I saw three. You should know this. For all my efforts I was still robbed by the pirates.

I was led happily out into the open sea before being robbed. I was enjoying the first third of the 168 minutes film. Captain Jack's crew arrived in Singapore to look for Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fatt), pirate lord of the South China Sea for a ship and a map, so they could sail to world's end and rescue our favourite captain from Davy Jones's Locker. Davy Jones's Locker is a ghost realm of the netherworld where the dead Captain Jack Sparrow is being kept for eternity.

There appears to be some oriental influence in At World's End. Firstly of course we are introduced to a Chinese pirate, Captain Sao Feng. Secondly, the costumes and all were very well designed in an exquisite oriental fashion. And there was Singapore, a South East Asian country where Captain Sao Feng can be found.

The Singapore set features a bathhouse and I couldn't help relating it to Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. The popular animated film, released by Disney in the west has a bathhouse theme. The relation did not stop there, and I wondered if the scene where Captain Jack Sparrow is isolated in Davy Jones's Locker was inspired too by Hayao Miyazaki's work. The part where thousands of strange and curious yet harmless rounded stone-like crab helping Jack move his ship, The Black Pearl across a desert aroused my attention to this perspective. It was through the hands, eyes and imagination of the acclaimed animation master, Hayao Miyazaki that made famous the approach of detailing stories with thousands of mini little intriguing creatures. And it was fun to watch.

I was enjoying At World's End, laughing merrily at all the pirate jokes that the characters are lashing out at one another, feeling the thrill of the sword-fights and of course attracted to the sometimes witty, looney and mad character of Captain Jack Sparrow. That scene of him engaging himself to his many different personalities while alone in the deserted Davy Jones's Locker is a real gem.

But with all the oriental influences, the filmmakers probably did not take note of the teachings of Zen, where less is truly more. For when after the crew rescued Captain Jack Sparrow and brought him back to the mortal world, it all happened again. The tangling and confusing plots and subplots manifested once more and killed whatever is good about the film. In my opinion, if At World's End had ended after rescuing Captain Jack and had a straight approach in the gathering of forces to deal with Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) with a fitting spectacle of a finale fight, the film would have been great.

I was trying to understand the story. In reflection I probably should not for it amounted to nothing. It just isn't worth it. It would be tiring for me just to list them all out. So just be warned that in the film, every character have their own personal agenda. It is "me" first and "you" later if "you" are still there. If that is the purpose of the story-writers to represent the meaning of how pirates are, then they have succeeded. In fact it was so successful that they lost me.

It bored me so much I no longer laughed at the jokes. It dragged on so long I no longer felt compelled to see the ending. I just want the film to end there and then. Enough was enough.

"Take whatever you can and give nothing back." Thanks a billion, filmmakers, or is it thanks me instead?

This entire Pirate series is like a ride on a pirate ship in a theme park, it was thrilling for a start but as it swing back and forth too many times the nauseas will come and when it stops you find yourself displaced nowhere.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a fine example of a good film gone bad because it had too many tangling tales to tell. I maintain that it is worth watching for the first third of the film but save yourself from seasickness in the middle just so you can enjoy the spectacular fight sequence toward the end.

I'm a huge fan of the Piates of the Caribbean movies, but I was a little nervous about seeing this third installment because of the not as good other third installments. I still had pretty high expectations, and I was not disappointed! The plot was brilliant and very creative, with plenty of exciting twists and turns. As always, the acting was incredible. Johnny Depp always does an amazing job, but his Captain Jack Sparrow is probably one of his bests works yet! I still don't see how anyone could be so brilliant... Anyways, overall, just a really great film. Better than the other Pirate films in the trilogy (and you know how good those are!) See it, you won't be disappointed!

Once you start downhill, it's difficult to halt the momentum. So to apply this metaphor to the world of cinema, once a film franchise delivers a poor entry, it's almost impossible to not deliver poor ones from then on out. So, imagine the surprise when, after the lackluster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, that screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio and director Gore Verbinski are able to deliver a superior third entry in the Pirates series with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. It is hardly perfect, still far too long and lacking in emotional depth, but for a summer spectacle, it still manages to deliver the goods to a degree.

At World's End opens not long after Dead Man's Chest, with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) joining forces with recently resurrected Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to rescue Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from Davy Jones' locker, where he was dragged to by the Kraken at the conclusion of the last film. While they are on their way to the afterlife, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), has exerted his influence over Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and is using him to bring the pirates of the world to their knees. With their very existence on the line, the pirate lords meet to discuss the possibility of joining forces to combat Beckett, but since these are pirates, there is a wide variety of skullduggery and backstabbing to be had.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is rife with dazzling visuals. As with both previous films, At World's End has spent it's almost-certainly astronomical budget on what actually goes on the screen. The sets, costumes, and stunning visual effects are impressive, to say the least. You might be excused for actually believing that what you are seeing is real at times, not just movie trickery. The make-up artists have also once again proved that they can be the go to guys for the creation of unappealing looking characters, as almost no one in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End looks like they have taken a bath or brushed their teeth, well, ever, which, in this case, seems to work for the film. If you want to see a visually spectacular motion picture, especially on the big screen, you need look no further than At World's End.

On the other hand, if you are interested in depth to go along with the glittery outside, then At World's End will prove to be somewhat lacking, although not nearly as much as Dead Man's Chest. The key problem to this film is that the characters are underdeveloped. Most of what makes them up is played out again without much added to the proceedings from the previous entries: Jack wants everything for himself, Barbossa wants what Jacks wants also, Will wants Elizabeth and Elizabeth wants, seemingly, to be a pirate. Frankly, it's a bit sad that the character with one of the best emotional arcs in the film is one of its villains, Davy Jones, who has an almost touching degree of pathos added to him thanks to a scene about halfway through the film. Perhaps it is the film's never ending attempt to keep the audience uncertain where the various characters loyalties lie that also works against the audiences' identification with almost anyone. When it seems that everyone is out only for themselves, it's hard to work up much enthusiasm for them.

The film's cardinal sin, as has been the case with every Pirates entry thus far, is its bloated length. At World's End does not have nearly the lopsided running time to substance ratio that Dead Man's Chest did, but it still overstays it's welcome. Much like fellow summer blockbuster Spider-Man 3, the filmmakers seem to believe that bigger is better, and that is sometimes just not the case. In the film's defense, there is quite of bit of plot to fill the minutes, but it could have still been trimmed back to some degree while maintaining, and perhaps even increasing, the entertainment value.

That being said, At World's End still manages a few surprises, and the ending does pay off much of what has gone before, and even though the "love" between Elizabeth and Will seems almost non-existent, a key scene at the end on a beach does manage to be effective. The actors also generally deliver once again. Johnny Depp is entertaining as ever as Jack Sparrow, although he finds the screen time a bit split amongst the various other characters this outing. Depp seems to be having a good time in the role, and it's hard to not understand his public statements that he would be willing to go more rounds as the character. Rush is also effective as Barbossa and Keira Knightley shows a bit more energy than in the last entry, as does Orlando Bloom in the part of Will.

So, what began as a seemingly bad idea (a Disney theme park ride turned into a summer film) has concluded three films later with one of biggest displays of blockbuster film-making, in terms of scope, as has been seen in recent years. That the spectacle isn't quite in service of an appropriate amount of core material is disappointing, but Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is hardly a loss. It provides a decent amount of entertainment, buckets of eye candy and a good laugh here and there. While filmmakers should perhaps aspire to more, what they manage deliver isn't half bad. I suppose that might sound like damning with faint praise, but you just have to call them as you see them.

I tell you, I was so disappointed to not see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End it's opening weekend, but in some ways, it was kind of a blessing, at least I would get some reviews from friends who saw it, like my movie buddy. Now so far this May, the sequels have been disappointing, excluding 28 Weeks Later, they're just not as good as the originals or their sequels. When I asked my friend how Pirates 3 was, she said it was a major disappointment, oh, man, that got me nervous, since her and I have virtually the same taste in movies. But my mom and I wanted to see this film still, just see what it was about, and I have to say that I actually enjoyed this film more that what I was lead to believe it was.

OK, I'm not sure how to explain the plot, since there is so much to say, but I'm going to give it a shot. Will and Elizabeth's relationship is on the rocks since Elizabeth has not told anyone that she was the cause of Jack's death. Jack is needed to help Will get his father back, so he and the crew bring back Jack from Davy Jone's locker. The English Command has hung everyone in the town who has done anything to do with pirates, and are out to kill every last one of the pirates. Captain Barbossa is back and he is in a fight with Jack on who is captain of the ship. Traitors reveal themselves into the biggest pirate battle you'll ever see!

I hope that helps somewhat, there are a lot of stories to follow in this film. But it has great acting, superb effects, and terrific stories. There are a few ridicules moments that are unbelievable, but I think that if you just relax and give the movie a break, you may find yourself having a lot of fun in this great sequel. It was a great ending to the story, the only story I didn't like how they ended it was the story between Will and Elizabeth, but I'm not going to spoil it for you. But please just give this movie a break, it's really great when you give it a chance.

9/10

The good and bad of this third - and perhaps last - of the "Pirates of the Caribbean' story:

It's not easy to keep people entertained these days for almost three straight hours, and the film-makers accomplished two-thirds of that. I might have ranked this higher, but it's too long at 169 minutes (almost three hours) .....way too long. Two hours would have been more than enough for this fantasy-adventure film. After that, I found myself getting bored with too much action and much of the same things I had already seen for two hours.

What I really appreciated in this movie was all the humor. I expected decent special-effects and diverse characters. There are a number of good laughs in here and they are provided by a variety of people, not just Johnny Depp as "Capt. Jack Sparrow." Even the parrot gets several laughs in here.

Since the entire cast was still intact, I was more interested in seeing some new faces and I really enjoyed Chow Yun-Fat whose major contributions came in the beginning of the film. Why he basically left after the opening part, I don't know, and the movie suffered for it. Mostly the film features a bunch of familiar people, none of whom we can predict what they'll do next. One minute they are good guys; the next minute, the bad guys. Unfortunately, that makes the story confusing in parts. So - if you got lost a few times, don't feel bad. It's understandable.

The only character who rubbed me the wrong way was the too politically-correct and almost insulting role of "Elizabeth Swann," played by Keira Knightley. Why do filmmakers insist on giving us the pretty girls-who-beat up-all-the-men roles? It's so stupid. Overnight she becomes a super-skilled swordsman? Please, movie makers: stop giving us Rambo with makeup and cleavage! Let women be women and men be men!

Also, I wanted a high seas pirate adventure story, not some voodoo theology mumbo-jumbo, which took up too much of this story. What was this: Pirates of the Caribbean or Harry Potter? At times, it resembled more of the latter.

Geoffrey Rush as "Captain Barbossa" was the most interesting person in the film, in my opinion. He was terrific in every scene. Depp is always good, but I missed hearing him say, "Savvy?" He didn't say it once!

Overall, fun but overdone. Savvy?

This movie is truly spectacular!!! Non stop action, with a surprising ending. If it weren't for the silliness of the Jack Sparrow clones, I would give it a 9 and 1/2. It takes a little away from the film's momentum. As far as the final battle rivaling that of the LOTR trilogy, I would say no. This trilogy will go down as one of the great trilogies. Breathtaking special effects, and fabulous scenery. All in all, a great film. It must be viewed in the theater. It is better than Dead Man's Chest, but I still like the overall story line of Curse of the Blach Pearl better. As always, be sure to stick around after the credits for an extra scene. This one adds to the plot of the film and gives viewers some closure after a heart wrenching finale. Make sure you check this film out.

First of all I warn you: do not focus too much on the plot. There are some things you won't like, for the most of you a few things, for a few of you most things. But this is not a movie you'll love for its plot. You're going to love for its special effects better and better from the first chapter of the trilogy (the final battle is a masterpiece!), and because in this movie there's fun, a lot of fun: jack/johnny is irresistible, Barbossa is a great pirate and all the crew (pintel and ragetti over every other one) is hilarious. I saw it yesterday, but I'm going to see it again and again. Why? Because when you're on your seat and the light come down, then begins a show you cannot dislike. A suggestion? Enjoy it!

I will say I absolutely loved Curse of the Black Pearl, it's one of my all-time favourite movies. Dead Mens Chest was enjoyable and lively, if overlong. At World's End is certainly not a terrible film, far from it, I just found it rather disappointing that's all, plot-wise being the least remarkable of the three films. I will say there is a lot to recommend it, namely the art direction, and the special effects weren't too bad either. The cinematography was impressive, there is some lovely period detail and I thought there were some very well staged battle sequences. The music by Hans Zimmer, one of my favourite film composers, was outstanding, very rousing and dramatic. And the performances weren't so bad either- Jack Sparrow is still the lovable rogue we have come to know and love, and Johnny Depp played him marvellously. A very talented actor, Geoffrey Rush, sinks his teeth into the part of Captain Barbosa, I particularly loved the line, "I'm a bit busy at the moment." And Bill Nighy was delightfully villainous as Davy Jones. However, the film does have flaws that prevents it from being the rollicking film it had the potential of being. The plot did take a while to get going, and sometimes became unfocused and convoluted, like Elizabeth and Will declaring their wedding vows in the middle of a big fight. Also there are a lot of characters, and one or two of them served no real purpose to the plot, and a lot was crammed into the long running time, so at the end of the day, it felt a bit bloated. The script was full of existing jokes, not necessarily a bad thing, but overall it lacked freshness, and the humour and fun, that made me love the first film so much. Overall, it is certain performances, fantastic music and some well-staged battles that salvage an otherwise bloated and disappointing second sequel. 6/10 Bethany Cox

The Pirates of the Caribbean-movie serials is probably one I'll never grow tired off. The characters are fun and great, always adventurous and spectacular to watch.

It's really too bad that this time they felt the need to make things even bigger, more complex and conclusive than the previous two movies. Really not needed. In my opinion the first movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" is still the best because of the reason that it's simple, fun and choices to be purely entertaining. They already went wrong with this approach during the second movie; "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", when they put in more new characters and different hard to follow plot lines. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" goes on in the same trend as the previous movie. There are more new characters and as far as the new many plot-lines are concerned...well let me just say that after a while I just gave up trying to understand the movie and just let the movie take me away with its visuals, humor and other entertaining elements. And this movie regardless should really be able to take you away on a roller-coaster-ride of pure entertainment.

No doubt in my mind that this movie could had become the best one out of the series. It had all the potential and budget for that, now if they had only cut down about halve of the script...Most of the plot-lines seem redundant and are actually far from believable because they contradict from what happened in the first two movies. The many betrayals among characters and side-picking became really confusing after a while, till it reached a point when you just didn't knew who was fighting for what. But like I said before, after a while you just stop caring about it and simply enjoy the movie for what it brings you. It all is also the reason why the movie is now nearly 3 hours long. Now the movie is not as good and entertaining as the first but maybe just slightly better than the second one, because of the large scale of this movie.

The movie is definitely big. There is no lack of action as some people claim there is. There is just as much action as there is in the first two movies, only difference this time is that the movie is nearly 3 hours long and therefor the movie also has some more talking-sequences and slower moments in it.

The movie is also big with its musical score by Hans Zimmer and he actually succeeded in composing a new great theme for the movie. In its action moments the movie gets definitely uplifted by its musical score.

The action sequences are definitely well constructed and at times pure eye candy. So are the special effects, although I feel that the second movie was still better on that. It seems like they tried to overdo things this time and I'm mainly talking about the end battle, when it comes down to its special effects, by putting in some complex shots. No matter how good CGI is these days, you still see that it's CGI.

Most roles get extended in this movie. Marty, Tia Dalma and even Jack the monkey and Cotton's parrot. But of course the movie still remains the Jack Sparrow-show. Really one of the best characters in recent years, all thanks to Johnny Depp, who provide the movie with its biggest laughs and most hilarious absurd moments. He still plays the character as good and fresh as he did for the first time 4 years ago. You can't just ever grow tired of Jack Sparrow. I was also very pleased to see Geoffrey Rush back as Barbossa. His role was bigger which allowed Geoffrey Rush to shine even more. Bill Nighy was also as good as always as Davy Jones. Orlando Bloom's and Keira Knightley's acting also has really improved over the years. I was actually surprised to see how much of the movie Keira Knightley carries this time and how well she does this. Even in the sequences with Geoffrey Rush she does. She also gets to do more interesting in the movie when it comes done to action. In a way she has taken over the Will (Orlando Bloom) role in this movie this time and Will himself gets pushed more to the background this time compared to the first two movies, which really shouldn't bother most people, unless you're a teenage-girl of course. She handles both the action- and comical sequences really well. And even Keith Richards shows up in an already classic cameo as Jack's father. But some role also got narrowed down to my regret, such as Jonathan Pryce's and Jack Davenport's and lets not forget the Kraken.

Still, I really wouldn't mind seeing more Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the future, if needed with new actors and characters, as long as Johnny Depp stays as Jack Sparrow. The serials still have more than enough potential and haven't dried up yet.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Do not listen to the stingy critics!! This movie is AMAZING! Everything you hoped for and more. I can't wait to see it again. The fact that it is a long movie makes it all the better for the viewer because you get more of all the adventure, romance and breathtaking scenes. The writing is incredible, the acting is the best it has been since the beginning, and the artistry is second-to-none. There is no fluff, every scene means something. It's funny, intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat. My heart didn't stop pounding until long after the credits ended. It's the kind of movie that stays with you. It's satisfying IF this is the last Pirates, and it leaves you wanting more IF we are to be blessed with a fourth. Bottom line is: go see this movie, and have a great time doing it!

As much as I was hyped up for it last summer, I am still in disbelief over how disappointed I was when I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I had bought advanced tickets, was in a packed and cheering theatre, and still managed to fall asleep from boredom. It was so disheartening, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Unfortunately, on repeat viewings, I cannot say I have been so generous, but nonetheless, looked forward to the next film, At World's End anyway. And while it does the job a lot better than Chest, I cannot help but think that they really dropped the ball hard after the first film.

End picks up a short while after Chest with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and the rest of the usual crew in Singapore. They meet with the revered pirate lord Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat), in an attempt to acquire the maps to Davy Jones' locker, where they hope to rescue Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Meanwhile, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) is planning the extinction of all pirates, and is using Davy Jones himself (Bill Nighy) to help with the job.

Of course, anyone who has seen the trailer or know anything about the movie can predict what comes from here, and sadly, this is where the film loses a lot of steam. Running just short of three hours, the film packs a lot in, and pads a lot of itself out. Whereas Chest was just a whole lot of build up to nothing, End does build to something, but that something just does not feel as well planned out as it wants to be. Through all of the action, double, triple and quadruple crossings, and all of the laughs, the film just feels very drawn out for no reason but to stretch itself out longer. With the number one complaint of the series thus far being the length of the films, you would have thought a real editor would have come along and chopped out the useless stuff and left just the meaty bits. But unfortunately, this is not the case, and yet again, the viewer has to sift through a vast amount of material where a lot of nonsensical drivel (like numerous useless scenes featuring copies of Jack Sparrow) overtakes actually useful elements.

Where the film does do much better than Chest, is in its focus. While the latter was jumping all over the place, this film actually stays on course for the most part. It is a lot easier to follow, and despite some of the already listed issues, feels like a stronger film. But this comes at the price of basically throwing out almost everything that Chest brought to the franchise. All of those numerous subplots? Only a few are answered, and are answered in such simplistic fashion that they should not have even been questions in the first place. All the ones that are not? They are basically left to rot, and in a way, make Chest feel like a totally useless experience minus the final five minutes. It feels like a total cheat, and while it does not effect this film (in fact, it really enriches what is here), it totally kills anything the previous film had left going for it.

And with the subplots getting underused, so too are the new characters. The mysterious Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) does next to nothing, and when the big reveal as to the purpose of her character comes, she ends up feeling like a waste of time (if you can even understand what she is saying). Much the same goes for 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner (Stellan Skarsgård), Hollander's Cutler Beckett, and Yun-Fat's Sao Feng. They clearly had something to offer the last film (and Yun-Fat in this film), but here, do a few things, and then not much else. Even the astonishing performance from Nighy as Davy Jones is neglected here, taking away much of what made him such a great character in Chest. Even older characters like Jack Davenport's Norrington and Jonathan Pryce's Governor Swann are pointless, as they get next to no screen time at all.

Thankfully, Depp is even better than he was in Chest. He feels a bit overshadowed again, but his role is still as amusing and often bizarre as ever. At least here he actually seems like he is trying to do something new, instead of just aping his original performance. Bloom and Knightley are strong, and much more independent this go around, adding a great deal of needed emotion to their roles. Rush however, comes out on top of everyone. His over-the-top performance of Barbossa proves to be exactly what Chest was sorely missing. He steals every scene he is in, and breathes new life into the demented character. The rest of the crew, in all of their tiny roles, all help with some much needed humour to help liven up how dark it becomes at times (as a small cameo by a very make-up heavy Keith Richards).

But for all of what it does so much better (the special effects are just as great in this film, looking rather breathtaking in some sequences), the film still does not capture the fun and greatness of the first film. Yes, there is the humour and the action, but it just feels forced. It never feels as genuine or as well captured as it was in the first film (in fact, it teeters on passing ridiculous and becoming absurd, in a bad way). While the first one may have been thought of as a throw away at first, these films just stink of being pumped out just to capitalize on a wildly random success. It may be enjoyable, but for anyone looking for anything but an explanation for how shoddy Chest was, you will be looking in the wrong place.

7.5/10.

It was very disappointing.

I adored the first movie to pieces. I own the DVD and regularly play it on movie nights with my friends. It's great unexpected fun, quotable, and a visual spectacle. The characters are surprisingly likable, and Depp comes roaring in like a breath of fresh air as Capt. Jack.

The problem with the third movie (as well as the second) is that it lost touch with it's roots. The first movie, while heavy with the supernatural stuff, was still pretty grounded in a fairly accurate real world. The characters were over the top, yes, but still believable, and above all, relatable. Their motives and predicaments all made a great deal of sense (i.e. Elizabeth wanting to marry Will, Barbossa wanting to be free of the curse, Jack simply wanting to get a boat so he could live his life of freedom). Unfortunately, in the new movies, the writers have lost touch with the first movie's charm. The plots are so convoluted it's difficult to decipher, much less remember, a character's desires and motives. It's much less emotionally grounded. It has also become so thick into this supernatural fantasy land that it has hardly any link to the real world at all. This would not have been a problem were the filmmakers not so intent on special effects and visual spectacles that they forgot to tell a good, solid story.

I believe this movie would have been better if the writers had kept to a more straightforward plot and toned down much of the "grand spectacle" stuff which really dominated the movies.