To the Locker with the critics--it's fun!

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2007)

No, it's not going to win any Oscars. Yes, critics will turn up their noses at it.
That just demonstrates how out-of-touch the typical film critic is with why most people go to see a movie like this.
To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about AWE. The fact that they shot it back-to-back with the second movie, and started filming without a script, made me twitch a little....and then, there was the fact that the second movie was just lacking. "Dead Man's Chest" came across as very labored and formulaic, whereas the first movie came across as "This probably won't go anywhere, but let's make a fun pirate film and have a good time doing it." After the success of the first movie, it seemed like Verbinski and his cast started taking the franchise seriously. Way too seriously. We had very formulaic, heavy-handed references to the first film, we had about a dozen too many rum jokes.
But then...a miracle occurred. It's as if, by the time they got done filming the second movie, the cast and crew were so burned out that they said, "Heck with it, let's just make a fun pirate movie" once again.
I, for one, am pleased with the results.
Oh, it's not perfect. It's a little too long, and the Calypso subplot really doesn't seem to go anywhere, given the amount of screen time dedicated to it. The focus of the film is much more divided than the first two, and some fans may be annoyed that Barbossa gets most of the best lines.
And in the end, none of that matters; it's fun, it's entertaining, it's crammed so full of clever little details and homages to other films (I particularly like the nod to Sergio Leone with the two musical lockets) that you can watch it over and over and see something new each time.
If you want Deep And Serious Film-making, avoid this like the plague. If you want to kick back and wish you were a pirate for three hours, go see it.