Solid ending to epic saga

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2012)

The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, taken as a saga, has the epic sweep and wild energy of the old time Hollywood pirate adventures. It's fun nonsense worthy of Robert Howard or H. Ryder Haggard, with deft comic timing, death-defying stunts and a literal boatload of roguish supporting characters. The final movie is an improvement over the second one, which I nonetheless enjoyed. Like any good adventure flick, this one takes the audience to places only imagined. The trailer hinted at this, showing previews of the Black Pearl making its way to end of the world and going over the edge! Although quite long at almost three hours, the viewer is taken to the end of our world and into the next, to Davy Jones' Locker, to the Singapore fortress of Asia's most dangerous pirate, to Shipwreck Cove and its town built entirely from the hulks of wrecked ships (!), to a final showdown with the British Navy at the edge of a maelstrom that threatens to sink both fleets. Money and technology were well used here to give color and flesh to what is essentially a very tall tale. A legend of the sea. A fish story. Blu-Ray takes great advantage of this, bringing out the high end effects with eye-popping clarity.
Some reviewers have complained that it is 'unrealistic'. Tosh. Realism is for weepy dramas. The characters are sometimes dwarfed by the scale of things, but then again Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom are supposedly playing ordinary people following extraordinary destinies. And anyway, Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush can steal any scene, even one with a kraken in it. The script is a little thin, but at least workable and again an improvement over Pirates #2, albeit a slight one. Neither really has dialogue worthy of its sweeping story line.
The ending, BTW, is perfectly suited to such a legendary tale, bringing characters together and sending others on their way as the saga continues.