At World's End? More like when will it end.. (plot details mentioned)

Rating: 5/10 (27 May 2007)

This movie suffers in the same way that the recent Spider-man 3 suffered. First it is far too long. The second is that it trys to cover all the plot threads left over from Dead Man's Chest. But because of this, it has to cram in too much dialogue explaining whose doing what to whom (there are so many crosses, double-crosses, triple crosses going on you won't keep up) and tries to cover up any plot holes with burst of action. However the result of this, is that the film is boring at times.
The plot is so convoluted, that I won't even try and explain it. Suffice it to say it involves rescuing Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones Locker, rescuing Will Turner's father from the Flying Dutchman, and dealing with the company trying to wipe out all pirates.
There are many things wrong with this movie. As stated it's too convoluted in plot, the scenes at time make no sense, as if the writers are making it up as they go from scene to scene. But the main fault, sadly lies with the director Gore Verbinski.
First, someone needed to reign in Johhny Depp's performance. He's so over the top, I doubt he's landed yet. The first appearance he makes in this movie, we see more than one Captain Jack and it's a scene that's just silly. The other main problem comes from an important plot thread.. the romance between Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Sadly both actors simply fail to convince as the lovers. The scenes they have together show no romance or spark that was there in the first movie. This could be down to the writers, but I feel stronger direction was needed.
As for the rest of the cast, Skellan Skarsgard and Chow Yun-Fat are wasted. Geoffery Rush at least has some fun, as does Bill Nighy. However Nighy's performance is hampered by the love sub-plot revealed here his character had in the past with Naomie Harris's Tia/Calypso character. It reveals the past of Davy Jones, but at the same time, weakens the character.
Speaking of which... consider this : Davy Jones, evil henchman of Lord Beckett (who wants to wipe out the Pirates). Bad guy turning good... Barbossa. Weedy hero, Will Turner, tough female character Elizabeth Swann. Wise cracking charmer Jack Sparrow. Am I the only one to see connections to a certain 6-movie space saga? Should this be called Pirates 3 : Return Of The Sparrow? Just a thought...
There are some good things in this movie. The CGI and special effects are impressive (and they should be if this movie cost a reputed $200m!). Also the action sequences are well shot and handled.
However for a movie of this budget and scale I feel there is no real effort going on. Like The Matrix series, I feel the makers were so surprised at the success of the original Priates movie (which was fun and funny), and decided the way to go was to make another 2 movies. And like the Matrix sequels, it suffers from the fact that both didn't need sequels.
If the do decide to make a 4th movie, and then ending does leave the possibility open, I hope they give the writers time to come up with a good plot and script BEFORE filming starts.
Otherwise it'll be more of the same... and that would be a bad thing, no matter how much money it makes.