One day

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2017)

The third and final chapter of the initial trilogy, At World's End begins not long after the cliffhanger ending of Dead Man's Chest. Lord Cutler Beckett now has command of both Davy Jones and The Flying Dutchman, and is using them as his weapons to exterminate piracy from the high seas once and for all. Meanwhile, Will, Elizabeth, the resurrected Barbossa and the rest of the Black Pearl crew are in search of a way into Davy Jones' Locker, where Jack Sparrow currently is after being swallowed whole by The Kraken. Their journey has them cross paths with the vengeful Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) before they can pull Jack out of purgatory. But once Jack is back, he finds that it's not for the purposes he would've hoped. Will just wants Jack's ship so that he can use it to rescue his father from the clutches of Davy Jones, Elizabeth is looking to own up for the double-handed way she betrayed Jack, and Barbossa is only interested in returning Jack to the land of the living because it means that the legendary Brethren Court of Pirates can convene to formulate a plan of action; both Jack and Barbossa are Pirate Lords. However, it seems neither side can avoid the war that is brewing on the horizon as all the alliances between these characters grow shakier by the minute.
Okay, so that's the most basic plot description of this movie I can write. If I were to go into any more detail, then we'd be here all day. The plot of this film is A LOT more complex than you'd expect in a pirate action-adventure movie, but that's what I love about it. Yes, you read right: love. So, let's get into this story, shall we?
As I pointed out with Dead Man's Chest, the more intricate plotting winds up making the movie all the more interesting. There is so much going on here, that this movie doesn't merely ask for your attention, it DEMANDS it. And when talking about a big-budget, effects- driven blockbuster, that is something I both admire and respect a great deal. To answer the question that's probably on everyone's mind right now: no, I didn't find it confusing at all. It's an extremely easy movie to follow, really, and I appreciate how it doesn't feel the need to spoonfeed the audience every single, miniature detail. Plus, it has so much plot going on, that for a nearly 3-hour movie, At World's End rarely (if ever) feels like it's wasting time. Not only that, but the story moves along at a very nice pace and the movie never feels overlong.
Though, I admit, your overall investment in this movie is determinate on how much you're invested in the characters and everything they're doing. Well, suffice it to say I love these characters, and find myself involved in every aspect of this movie every time I watch it. I care about Will and Elizabeth's troubled romance, I care about Will's burgeoning desire to free his father from Davy Jones, I care about the Pirate Council desperately fighting to maintain their way of life, and ultimately, I care about the fates of all the characters. Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio's script gives nearly everyone something to do in the story, so nobody ever feels wasted, but more importantly, the script creates very interesting dynamics between all of them.
Those dynamics are another part of what makes this movie so cool. Basically, everyone here is behaving exactly like what they are: pirates. And that's something that feels so natural, given the high stakes of the story. Survival is the predominant idea on every character's mind, and it's an idea that would make anyone in situations like these do what they have to in order to achieve it. Even if it involves unflattering betrayals (again, they're pirates; betrayal is as easy as breathing for them). This is most evident with Jack and Will, whose evolution in this movie I also love. So, call me crazy all you want, but I love this script. I also think it sports some great dialogue, as well as an effective opening scene.
Getting back to the high stakes for a moment, this brings me to another point: just how BIG and EPIC this movie is. With a budget of $300 million, there's seldom a moment where you can't see the money on the screen. And that big, epic feeling is something I get wrapped up in all the time. At World's End has some fantastic set pieces and action sequences, but they're not there just for the hell of it; they're there because they're born organically out of the story. That, and they're a load of fun. I mean, just look at the sheer energy of that fantastic maelstrom climax. Not just in terms of action, but story as well, this movie is just huge, and I'm sure no other movie in the franchise will ever top this in that regard. Also, Hans Zimmer's score for this film is equally epic and amazing.
Overall, I find Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to be the most misunderstood and under-appreciated blockbuster of the last couple of years. People always complain how these Hollywood blockbusters are ignoring the stories less and less, and yet when a movie like this comes along that actually creates an interesting one, they just write it off anyway.