A pirate's life for me...

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2007)

I attended the 8:00pm showing of AWE on May 24th with some of my friends. We had all been anticipating the film for months (we made some costumes as well). Obviously, there was a lot of hype behind the third installment of the Disney's uber-popular Pirates of the Caribbean. And now, after finally seeing the nearly 3 hour film...all I can say is believe the hype.
The movie picks up where Dead Man's Chest left off: Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan, Captain Barbossa, and their troop of comical, yet useful comrades set off to world's end to fetch back Captain Jack Sparrow from Davey Jone's locker. Meanwhile, Lord Beckett and the Royal Navy plan to remove piracy off the face of the world.
The film is fantastically paced...there are just enough conversations and slow parts to understand what is going on, without taking away from the action and comedy. Then again, most of the conversations are comical...almost too much. I say that with the utmost looseness; I realize that the Pirate's franchise is comedy/action. As usual, Jack Sparrow steals the show with his witty one-liners and physical quirks. Keira Knightley (Elizabeth) has also notably improved her acting skills.
As you've probably heard before, the final battle sequence is one of the best you will ever see. I can't imagine the sheer amount of hard work that went into that 20-30 minute block of film. It is utterly fantastic. I must also note the spectacular scene towards the end of the movie, featuring Lord Beckett. All I could think was "this is the coolest thing I've ever seen." The water-fall scene is also quite notable.
Now that I've got the good out of the way, I must note the very minor, yet annoying, negative qualities. I think many people will agree with me when I say that Gore Verbinski should've thought the entire "Jone's locker" sequence out so much better. There are many other ways to portray hallucinations than showing Jack Sparrow "killing" his mirage for half a peanut. Also, towards the end of the film when Calypso is introduced, you would think that the "goddess of the seas" would have a better entrance than a pile of crabs.
With that said, these small annoyances hardly take away from the grand scale and quality of this film. You will laugh, you will definitely cry, and you will love every minute of this spectacular Pirate's addition.
I give it an 8/10.
(Please don't take your small children to this movie...it really is a lot more violent than the other two movies.)