Confusing and muddled third part loses its sense of fun

Rating: 4/10 (23 May 2007)

Saw a spanking digital print of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last night and I came away puzzled, confused and disappointed. The entire franchise, which was heading for the rocks with middle sequel Dead Man's Chest, has finally sunk to the bottom with this third installment.
Firstly, the plot. Well, I'm not entirely sure there was one amongst the crosses, double crosses and triple crosses that pretty much every character inflicts on every other character. Add in occult mystics, a goddess of the sea, a love struck villain (aha motivation! - oh no, it's another double cross), pirate councils, nine pieces of eight (huh?), hundreds of crabs, four lead ships, three separate crews, a wedding, several battles/swordfights and you can't complain that Pirates 3 doesn't offer lot for your entry fee. It's just a shame that it doesn't make any actual sense.
The trouble is that every now and again, almost hidden beneath tons of turgid exposition dialogue, bizarre hallucination sequences, and loud, confusing action, lie some real gems of comedy - mostly involving Depp and Kevin McNally. Keith Richards is also excellent, though his scenes are much less fun than they should have been. Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa is still a fun character and the two pirates Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg have much more to do than in the second movie and are a good watch. In virtually every scene is Knightley, who does a good job of developing Elizabeth Swann and actually acts a couple of times, but basically spends her time looking extremely pretty.
However Chow Yun Fat, Orlando Bloom and Tom Hollander are bland, dull characters who are paper thin. Biggest crime of the two sequels is the treatment of Jack Davenport's character Norrington, who could have been interesting to watch develop, but was abandoned in favour of Hollander's.
Ultimately the characters, the plot, the script and the fun are all overwhelmed by the (admittedly fantastic) CGI. Though Depp pretty much saves every scene he's in, he can't save the full three hours. Pirates 3 has its moments, and at times is really great fun, but it is too long, too confusing, and too dull to be really worth the price of admission - though I suppose a feeling of being robbed could add to the pirate experience.
Shame.