The movie was great

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2007)

First of all, stay after the credits, there's one more scene at the end. 80% of the theater cleared out and missed it.
The movie is much better than the second installment, and all the new characters added charm. But it certainly is darker film than the first two. Starting off a movie with mass hangings (including children) certainly was uplifting.
I'm still disappointed in that the East India Trading Company doesn't seem as great a threat as it's supposed to be though you get the impression pirates and their friends are dying due to their actions. It's almost as if the British are made out to be some long lost version of the third Reich carrying out an anti-pirate holocaust.
All the odd twists and turns and back stabbing doesn't quite convince you it's all necessary to the movie, adding almost too much cerebral thinking, but the action scenes and the pirates do save the movie from becoming too dark.
Jack Sparrow's multiple personalities of his hallucinations certainly were a cool addition, and Keith Richards did add a special moment to the film when he introduced the Pirates Codex (written version) and what a deep voice he has.
It's a long movie, but it kept my attention. Orlando Bloom still disappointed me, and Keira Knightly was just passable. But Jack Sparrow and his Pirate universe was what this movie is really all about, and they were great! Arrr!