I wanted to like it, but the film falls off the map

Rating: 3/10 (8 February 2014)

There are certain films that you really want to like because of anticipation and expectation, but the overall delivery leaves you feeling very disappointed. The third film in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga is one of those films for me. I think they tried too hard to change something that wasn't broken by trying to make the film into a colossal epic instead of letting it be an enjoyable swashbuckler.
The story follows on from the last film as Will, Elizabeth and Barbossa sail to the edge of the world in order to save Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' locker. But the sinister Cutler Beckett has control of Jones' heart and with it he aims to control the seas as well as put an end to piracy. This leads to the nine pirate lords, Jack included, having to use the mysterious Calypso to make a stand against Beckett and Jones which leads to a lot of inner conflicts. That is just the outline of the plot, so as you can tell that is a lot going on and that is the stories biggest fault. Far too much is going on here. The story becomes needlessly complex to the point where you can't follow it and therefore you no longer care about what is going to happen. Plus the horribly bloated running time does nothing in the way of creating a more coherent narrative.
As noted the main problem with the film is that it is excessive in every area and it is clear that the writers have forgotten what made the other two movies so entertaining. The film just feels really bloated, it is almost three hours long and boy does it feel it. Instead of using this time to develop the story, it just adds more into the already too complex mix and keeps on bringing more conflict that adds nothing to the film. By the middle of the film it is almost impossible to know how the characters are feeling or what they're motivations are.
Even the characters are not as good as before. Johnny Depp is still amusing and enjoyable as Jack Sparrow, putting plenty of energy into the role and delivering some really funny lines. The problem is that there is a little too much Jack here. At times it is like the writers only really cared about Jack and therefore there are lots of scenes concentrating on him doing nothing in particular, such as when he is the locker. As I've said before Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom do nothing for me, sure they look the part but their acting is bland and not engaging enough. Geoffrey Rush makes a welcome return as the surly Barbossa and he gets a few good moments. Tom Hollander is still nicely slimy as Beckett and Bill Nighy carries on forming Jones into a complex character. Sadly Chow Yun-fat and Jack Davenport are wasted by being giving almost nothing to do, whilst the crew don't have as many comic moments to shine as they have before.
The films attempts at changing tone also fall flat on its face. I mean the first two films had dark elements but they still had lots of fun and felt somewhat grounded, but At World's End tries to go way too dark or strange at times and it just feels misplaced. Being the film with a child being hung doesn't fit into this world at all. It just feels like the film is trying to copy of others by becoming this serious epic. As said it is too 'out there' for its own good sometimes. When there are multiple Jack's running around in the locker, all the stuff with crabs moving ships and a sea version of Jack licking a brain, what on earth is this? It's clear that the film is trying way too hard to be taken seriously, forgetting that the fun tone make the previous features.
The jokes when used are tired too. There's only so many jokes that you can build around Rum before they become stale. The 'tension' is back between Jack and Elizabeth, the problem being that it has been done to death and is about as amusing as standing on a plug. The dialogue is no longer witty and well-paced, I can't really recall any funny lines presented here. Going back, the characters motivations are all over the place. Jack just seems to be here for the ride, Elizabeth is jumping between a dozen men and Will just wants to stab everyone in the back, there is no lead here that we can really get behind. The two most likable people were the villains from the first film, which kind of says it all.
Was there anything good here? Well yes. The visuals are stunning at times, the locker especially looks amazing and the seas are as wonderfully vast as ever. But given this is the most expensive movie ever that is a given. Plus when the film stops its muddled plot, the action is fantastic. It has everything, great swordfights, intense sea battles and the climax itself looks incredible as well as having some really good action set-pieces. But these pieces cannot save the mess created, only make you wish the other parts were as good.
So At World's End really comes across as a massive let-down. The story is so muddled that it is virtually impossible to follow and there are so many turns that by the end of the film I couldn't have cared less over what was going on. The film is certainly wasted potential, instead of concluding in true enjoyable style we are left with a muddled mess of a film, where even its positives are massively clouded by all the problems it has.