Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Review by Loc

Cap’n Jack Sparrow, the newest film icon. Who would have guessed that Johnny Depp would have created the most animated, lovable pirate since, well, ever. Sure, there’s Captain Hook, but he’s a meanie. Jack Sparrow, he’s a cunning, wily, funny dude. And the kids eat him up, as evidenced by the crowd of high schoolers yelping and cheering at his very appearance during the first screening of the latest Pirates movie. Quick hit: not necessarily bloated, but Jack can’t make this one stay afloat.

Man, puns are ridiculous. Moving on, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has been set up as the final chapter of the Pirates triology. What started off as a wildly fun romp involving cursed skeleton pirates and a tipsy, slurred-speech Jack Sparrow became a global phenomenon. With hundreds of millions in box office earnings, Disney quickly realized it needed to create a monster-sized franchise out of their little ride-turned-movie. So, we got an ambitious Gore Verbinski filming two sequels, back-to-back, prepping them for delivery one year apart.

Last year we got Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which was eh. They took the brightest and best parts of the first, and amped it up to eleven in this sequel. That meant an excess in the swashbuckling action, which was only mildly entertaining. And that meant Jack Sparrow overload, which was hugely frustrating. Whereas Jack was the mastermind, cunning, thieving, ultimate pirate in the first, he became a full-on caricature in the second, with his prancing and overzealousness, mixed in with downright dishonorable backstabbing and non-cunning concoctions of plans. So yes, it was a disappointment that disappointed to the tune of hundreds of millions yet again.

Now with the final chapter upon us, the only way to describe it is the flip-side to the same sequel coin. Instead of focusing on Jack’s outlandish character, At World’s End focuses on cunning, clever storytelling and plot twists. Where there was great strength in the perfectly dovetailed story threads from the first film, this one tries to do the same, but amping it up to eleven once again. And failing once again as well.

For every principal character, from Jack to Will Turner to Elizabeth Swann to Captain Barbosa to Lord Beckett to the freaky Voodoo chick, everyone has a story arc. Then, you throw in Chow Yun Fat as Captain Sao Feng with another plot thread and you seriously have way too much going on. And I even forgot to mention Davy Jones, who also has motivations in complicating everyone’s plans. To say its convoluted is a bit of an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not difficult to understand, but it is mind-boggling overloaded. And I can guess the motivations in doing this, someone saying “this is gonna be great, everyone doing something, all the twists and turns, its great!” But it’s not, it’s just a mess and half the time you can’t understand whatever fake accent is being used, making it even harder to follow.

Then there’s the action and effects. There’s a lot less swashbuckling, but a lot more ship sailing. Lots of cannons and explosions. Those are decent, but little more than eye candy. For instance, the gigantic whirlpool ship battle is full of cannon blasts and sword work, people flying all over the place, Jack vs Davy Jones atop a mast, and in the end, its just long and drawn out. There’s no real tension there, so watching it all play out becomes a tedious chore.

However, the special effects are top notch once again. From Davy Jones’s barnacled crew to the Black Pearl in the middle of a dessert, things look magnificent. And the great thing about these effects is that, for the most part, you barely notice them. When all these barnacle beasties just look like really good make-up, that’s crazy when you realize they’re all CGI.

Ah, but Jack Sparrow can save the day, right? Wrong. Depp tones it back down a bit for this final installment, which is a welcome change. But there are some random things that just don’t make much sense, most notably the appearance of his talking doppelgangers. Yes, Sparrow is a bit loony, but when did having little Jack’s on his shoulder whispering in his ears become funny? Oh that’s right, never. The formula of having more Jacks equals more funny does not work.

For the other characters, delving into their plot points would only lead to pages upon pages of unwrapping the ill-conceived story threads. Needless to say, most of the story is quite pedestrian. Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann’s star-crossed relationship? Yawn-inducing. Captain Barbosa and his scheming machinations? Scratching the surface of what should have been the great driving force of the movie. Captain Sao Feng? Throw-away. Voodoo chick, um, whatever. Davy Jones, ditto. Ah, but the Keith Richards cameo is relatively fun, even if it didn’t tap out its full potential.

Overall, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is a grand visual feast that just doesn’t seem filling. Characters are all moving around and yet, their stories aren’t all that captivating. Some characterizations fall to the wayside, like the redeemed Norrington, who suffers from the squeeze out. A tortured character that came to life unexpectedly in the second film, barely registers a pulse in this one. This is a summer blockbuster of truest form, an event that’ll draw the crowds and be forgotten by July. Out of the 9 pirate lords, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End end steals away with only 5.5. Stuffing a movie with lots of junk won’t make it a better film.