Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (Gore Verbinski, 2007) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (6 June 2007)

When I reviewed PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST (2006), I had complained that the producers forsook plot for sheer bombast. They seem to have made up for this by swamping us this time around with a variety of plot threads, none of which is remotely interesting, but the result is an inflated running-time of almost 3 hours!
The multiple clashes, double-crosses, schemes, incarcerations – to say nothing of the myriad factions (and monsters) involved – necessitate an excessive amount of exposition, which I could feel made the audience I saw it with quite restless! Besides, its incongruous smattering of intellectual elements – multiple Johnny Depps, Stellan Skarskard’s repeated greeting – must have gone over the heads of most of its intended audience!! Still, I think that the lengthy surrealist sequence which belatedly introduces the Jack Sparrow character here is a very surprising highlight for a blockbuster film in this day and age.
Even so, Depp and Orlando Bloom merely sleepwalk through their roles – but the film does make better use of Keira Knightley this time around. There‘s also the welcome (if hammy) return of Geoffrey Rush, while Chow-Yun-Fat’s Asian pirate gang adds a nice exotic touch (if little else). The repellent special effects aren’t as prominent as in the previous entry – but the black witch’s role (whose dialogue is largely unintelligible) is regrettably elevated to a major supporting one! The best moment is probably the 360-degree turn the ship makes, and the original wedding ceremony its most inventive bit. Overall, the film results in being more enjoyable than DEAD MAN’S CHEST – but the formula is clearly over-baked and, therefore, unpalatable in the long run…