A New Hope for the Threequel Scenario

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2007)

Ah, the summer movie spectacle. This year I thought the latest crop of movie "Threequels" were the beginning of the end.
It started with Spiderman 3. How could everything have gone so terribly wrong? Coming off the spectacular Spiderman 2, Spidey's third outing was a sloppy and strangely, emotionally detached mess. I couldn't believe how bored I was.
Then came Shrek the 3rd. Why don't these Hollywood types ever know when the joke's just not funny anymore. Sure this installment had it's moments, but they were just that: moments. Nothing coming close to the second installment's inspired mayhem.
And just when you think all hope is lost for the summer, POTC: At World's End pulls into port. All I can say is: WOW. OK, also that it's way better than Dead Man's Chest, which was such an extreme disappointment. Nobody thought they'd be able to fix something so fundamentally broken, but they did! And boy did they ever! So why only 9 out of 10 stars? Because it's not perfect. Like it's forebear, this movie is still way too long. Jerry Bruckheimer just can't seem to get the fact that sometimes more is not necessarily....more. In fact, this is one of those perfect cases where more is definitely less. Too long and an over convoluted plot. And yet we've got a keeper here. First of all, it's tone is much darker than the first two and it's pace is much slower and studied than the mad mayhem of Dead Man's Chest. The acting is still top notch, with extra kudos to Bill Nighy. All the characters also get their just comeuppance, or their redemption (a certain Commodore comes to mind). All culminating in one of the most incredible fight scenes ever put into celluloid. But most importantly, it had that emotional spark that was so lacking in number two (that extra scene after the credits was the perfect postscript). All of this makes for an enjoyable conclusion to one of filmdom's most lavish summer outings.