Not A Whole Lot Going On For This Picture...

Rating: 4/10 (6 September 2008)

The Curse of the Black Pearl was a very nice summer film that made me laugh and gasp. Dead Man's Chest wasn't funny, and even with some nice fight sequences, I didn't gasp. At World's End didn't improve, and only made me gasp at a waste of a nearly $300 million budget for such a clunker in terms of story, character, and action. Highly disappointed that Pirates of the Caribbean slowly decreased in "power".
While Dead Man's Chest and At World's End may be some of the biggest blockbusters yet, they ultimately fail in giving us anything new. Johnny Depp's portrayal as Captain Jack Sparrow is tired, and unfunny. What sparked laughs from the first are reduced to ho-hum jokes that seem ripped from Shrek the Third. Orlando Bloom is okay, though his tone in some scenes can go astray. Keira Knightley made me laugh the most, because for how sexy she may be, she cannot deliver a battle speech to save her life. Geoffrey Rush is the best of the bunch, but his lines are just too over-the-top at times.
Hans Zimmer's score is better than Dead Man's Chest, which had hardly any originality and only one interesting theme. The music for At World's End soars during some tracks, and the romantic theme is probably the best piece of music of 2007. Though the score as a whole is disappointing, as when it is not sweeping or soaring, it is boring with the quirky theme of Sparrow's madness. Well worth a buy, though slightly disappointing.
The visual effects are amazing, and probably the only thing that lasts from start to finish and always clings onto its realism. However, there's just too many. The special effects overwhelm the story, and instead of being awed by the action, it is the look of Davy Jones that has everyone's eyes.
The script is the ultimate killer of this film. By taking what worked in the first and the second, they (the writers) have infused it with a nonsensical story, where our characters have no motives, and the plot is revolving around the climactic battle. Well worth a Razzie for some of the most dimwitted dialogue, corny and o-l-d jokes, and some lackluster action scenes.
All in all, I wouldn't say that Pirates of the Caribbean -- each movie separately -- is awful, it's just poorly written. Gore Verbinski's direction sheerly lacks an eye for story, but is keen on eye-candy. There's some things that work in At World's End, and a whole lot that doesn't (i.e. the releasing of Calypso's body was just hilarious, and totally silly... that could've used hundreds of rewrites).
I recommend seeing all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, just for mindless entertainment. They're simple films with character's that have no distinguishable motives, nice music, and intriguing visuals.