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If there's one thing these Pirates don't need it's an introduction, last summer seeing them sail away with over one billion dollars of worldwide box office moolah. But Dead Man's Chest left some feeling sea-sick thanks to its adherence to the middle-movie formula of loose plot threads. The question is: does At World's End banish any ill feelings by neatly wrapping up the trilogy?
Moving straight into the story, At World's End picks up an indiscriminate time after the events of Dead Man's Chest . Already in Singapore en route to rescuing Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the mind-bending clutches of Davy Jones' locker, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) find themselves allied with their newly resurrected enemy Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). But after confronting the cunning Pirate Sao Feng ( Pirates newbie Chow Yun-Fat), their Singapore fling is over as quick as a flash and they head out onto the open seas towards the very ends of the earth itself. Meanwhile back in the Caribbean, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is now an instrument of the evil East India Trading Company and has forced Pirate kind to the brink of extinction. It's the perfect set-up for a titanic final battle, between two opposing forces, fighting for freedom or fortune...
...once, that is, all the elaborate plot machinations, featuring double crossings aplenty, are done with. And if there's one criticism of At World's End it's that it is far too convoluted for its own good. Also guilty of drifting the wrong side of serious, POTC3 still slightly lacks that sense of unadulterated fun that was so evident in the first film. But there's a reason these minor negatives have been mentioned first, for Pirates 3 is a roaringly good romp through the high seas of the Caribbean and beyond.
A bladder stretching, bum-numbing 168 minutes long, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End somehow never feels like a long movie. Clipping along at a rate of knots, the time sails past smoothly with barely a boring moment bloating out the running time—even including the now-obligatory multiple endings.
Easily the most technically accomplished of the three, it's in this part that the unsung hero of the Pirates phenomenon—director Gore Verbinski—comes to the fore. Holding the good ship together by maintaining continuity amidst what must have been chaos, there is an easy flow to the events that follow on from Pirates 1 and (particularly) 2 , with little to no repetition. Also leaving some indelible images to remember him by, Verbinski startles the eye on several occasions. A small selection of the mind-blowing shots include: our heroes' ship on a stark black sea reflecting the starry night sky above; the Black Pearl being carried across an arid land upon the backs of thousands of crabs, Captain Jack standing proudly atop its mast; a Western-like stand-off on a sliver of sand amidst the wide expanse of the sea; the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl encircling each other around a vast whirlpool, with deck hands from both vessels swinging across the chasm in order to board; and the wreckage-strewn, splinter-tastic stroll taken by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) during the final battle.
As for the actors, there is little marked differences in their performances from last year's effort. Clearly comfortable in the skin of their characters, a tanned and kimono-clad Keira steams up the screen with her effortless beauty whilst the dutiful Bloom continues to quietly do his thing. As for Depp, thanks to the plot device of Davy Jones' locker, Captain Jack gets to return even more mental than usual. Anyway, his rock star pirate shtick is still dead funny and remains the main reason to watch. Finally, if there's one thing World's End proves it's the importance of having Geoffrey Rush's flamboyant Barbossa back: the opening Captain Jack-less 20 minutes would have been dour without him.
Featuring most of what you might wish for (and maybe more), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End unequivocally banishes to the depths of the ocean any ill feelings that may have been held over from the—uber-successfully anyway— Dead Man's Chest . So haul anchor and set sail for your nearest cinema for this trilogy ending triumph.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is released May 24th worldwide.
Four stars out of five