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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Movie Review
June 23, 2007
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, Bill Nighy,
Naomie Harris, and Chow Yun-Fat.
Backstory
I'll admit, I've never been able to get behind the Pirates of the Caribbean
franchise like the rest of the world. I thought the first one was merely
"pretty good" and the second one was just bad. But, as I tend to do in
summer blockbuster season, I succumbed to the peer pressure and went to se #3.
Would it redeem the whole trilogy for me?
Plot
The seas have grown rough. The evil East Indian Trading Company has
captured Davy Jones's heart. Using this to blackmail Davy Jones, they rule
the seas with an iron fist and are killing pirates on site. Enter our
heroes, Will Turner, Elizabeth, and the back-from-the-dead Barbossa. They
set out to save the seas and make it free for pirates once again. Step
one: rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker, cuz they need
him, and it's just not a Pirates movie if it doesn't have Jack Sparrow.
And then, step two: unite the pirates of the world for one last assault on
Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman. And, thought it all, will Will and
Elizabeth learn to love again? Will all the backstabbing and backroom
deals finally make everyone happy? And will Jack finally figure out what
it is he truly wants?
What I Liked
There's some pretty cool special effects. The sea battle at the end is
amazing, and the plot seems to be a lot clearer than the last film. And, I
gotta confess, Captain Jack is pretty darn cool.
What I Didn't Like
Having followed a lot of sci-fi franchises with deep, drawn out continuities, I
can tell when a mythology is being made up as they go along. In the
Pirates films, they were making it up as they went along. That makes it
very difficult to follow. And, like the final seasons of The X-Files, it
collapses under the weight of the mythology. And, like another trilogy
that collapsed under the weight of its mythology - the Matrix - the creators are
forced to come to a conclusion that I found mildly unsatisfying.
Final Assessment
I may be biased because I've never been fully on-board with this, but at least
it was better than the second. And it's just bogged-down with an
overcomplicated mythology.
2.5
Nibs
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