Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End
After all the negative talk I’ve heard about this, I must say I came out of this pretty surprised and a little overwhelmed. This film is not nearly as bad as people say and is actually an improvement over the occasional slowness of Dead Man’s Chest. Yes, it is VERY overwritten, with too much plot and exposition for one movie, and this requires the viewer to have to pay attention for nearly three hours, which is a bit tiresome. Every character seems to have their own personal agenda, and the various alliances and truces seem nearly nonstop, causing some characters, like Norrington and Governor Swann, to be disposed of almost as afterthoughts, and others like Lord Cutler and Bootstrap Bill, to hang around too long and overstay their welcome. Also it’s a shame to see Chow Yun-Fat wasted in such a blah role, and his whole presence seems merely designed to set up a plot point. Regardless, the whole thing is a wild ride, and perhaps the most epic pirate movie ever. Depp and Rush kick ass as usual as Sparrow and Barbossa, Bloom remains dashing in his stock Will Turner role, Knightley is beautiful and feisty as Elizabeth, Nighy manages to bring some pathos under the makeup as Davy Jones, Naomie Harris is fun to watch as the voodoo woman, and Keith Richards redefines pirate cool in his brief cameo as Sparrow’s father. Like I said, the script throws everything but the kitchen sink out there trying to entertain, and not all of it sticks (they resurrect the goddess Calypso only to have her disappear and do nothing??) but when it does work (ie the Final Battle), the FX, action, and acting suck the viewer in like few blockbuster films of recent years. In the end, underrated, and a fitting and exciting conclusion to the trilogy…
8/10