A grand, great ride!

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2007)

To dare or not to dare... that's the question. And most movies, especially the big ones, tend to lean to the latter. They don't dare. They give you what you expect (and, in effect, thus always less). Most movies play it safe. 'At World's End,' on the other hand, doesn't. It dares. And in a big way too. In that respect it's just like it's two predecessors, where the constant charting of a new course was the order of the day  and in all respects  be it acting-wise, staging, plotting, what have you.  So, is this closing chapter of (this particular) trilogy a perfect film? Most likely not. Some of what's happening is beyond me, some seems missing on occasion, some too much. But, you know, that's just fine. To wind up at a dead-end or two (before picking up steam again) is what happens when you go where no one has gone before. And this particular journey is always fun. I cannot remember a movie where every  and I mean literally every  new frame holds a surprise, brings a new turn of events, offers up a new world. So some of it doesn't stick. Some doesn't work. Who cares? These are pirates for crying out loud! If they don't dare who would?  And the unpredictability of the characters featured in these tales is exactly the kind of unpredictability the artists make perfect use off in telling them. Here's form following function for you! To think now that this would entail just mere childish playing around, as some critics have suggested, would in my view be to seriously underestimate the cleverness (and the prowess!!) of those at the helm  be they the producers, the director or, in particular, the writers. They know their game, the stories of sea-faring men of yore, the tales told below deck, of the end of the world, where dragons live, of men who lose their hearts (and souls) to the sea, where the heaving of a hidden treasure might just bring about the resurrection of ones soul. Myths all of them are, sure. Just like Jack, Will, Liz, Davy and the lot of them  neither one of them really alive nor (for ever) dead. Present they may be but not tangible. To me, that's magic in it's purest form. Rarely have I been so entertained. Rarely have the years of my life been pealed off so perfectly back to the time when the world seemed endless to me, and full of adventure. When everything I could dream of was possible, at least in my mind. When I dared, too  even (or especially) if the sword I was fighting foes with was as imaginary as they were. If you're up for a trip into another world  and a trip in more ways then just one, this is the ticket to buy. That's if you dare.