Film Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: at World?s End
First there was Spider-Man 3, then there was Shrek The Third, now comes Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third part in the third trilogy of this summer (which will be followed by Ocean’s Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, and Resident Evil: Extinction soon enough). At World’s End (AWE) having been filmed at the same time as the previous installment gives it an added advantage in that there hasn’t been a long waiting period in between films (less than a year) and that audiences still have Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and crew on the mind.
This film opens not long after second as the East India Trading Company is killing off all the people who have been called pirates or are pirate sympathizers as Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) uses Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) to destroy pirate ships all across the oceans. Meanwhile Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley), and Newly resurrected Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) are not only trying to unite the Pirate Lords against the East India Trading Company but are also trying to save Sparrow from the bowels of Davy Jones Locker. With the help of voodoo priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) they will set across the Netherworld to bring Sparrow back from the land of the dead in order to awaken Calypso from her entrapment in a human body. It’s a complex story where characters betray each other left and right and you’re never sure who’s good and who’s bad and who just doesn’t have a clue (as does seem the case with Sparrow most of the time.
Unlike in the previous film the stories are better integrated in the whole of the film and even though there is a lot of story there is more in the way of action. This is due in part to Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio who return for a third time on the screenplay and director Gore Verbinski who provides a consistent vision throughout. The fight scenes are more elaborate and even though the Kracken doesn’t return for this film there is plenty to keep the huge cast occupied throughout. AWE not only strives to entertain but elevate above the trappings of other action-adventure films in order to have a film with backbone and something to say.
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