The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has stuck gold again.

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2007)

CLUTCHING a mast swaying high over the crashing ocean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones fight to the death in an awe-inspiring climax to one of the most popular trilogies in movie history.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 3: At World's End is certain to be the biggest film of 2007.
And fans won't be disappointed. It's a movie packed with thrills, spills and chills, every cent of its gigantic £150million budget put to stunning use.
Blockbuster season has arrived - and pundits say Johnny Depp's new film will break the $1billion box office record, set by the second Pirates movie, to become the most successful film of all time.
AdvertisementFollowing on from last year's Dead Man's Chest, these are dark times for the Age of Piracy. With lovable buccaneer Jack (Depp) missing presumed dead, the evil East India Company now controls the waves with the malevolent Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) roaming the world's oceans in his ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman.
As tyranny prevails on the high seas, it's up to young lovers Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley) to save piracy from a watery grave by gathering together the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court.
Click above to watch trailer But one of the lords is missing. Jack is trapped in Davy Jones' Locker - his own personal hell, a desert without a drop of seawater - following his terrifying encounter with a monstrous kraken in the last movie.
It means Will and Elizabeth must embark on a dangerous mission to find the charts and a ship that will lead them to their salty seadog friend.
But neither has reckoned with Oriental pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat, of Crouching Tiger fame) who's slipperier than a barrel of eels.
Everyone who enjoyed Dead Man's Chest will be hooked by this three-quel which, like the earlier film, is crammed to bursting with multiple plots, seafaring showdowns and spectacular special effects.
Apart from that climactic showdown in the rigging, there are incredible scenes of Jack trapped in the Locker.
After the trusty Black Pearl runs aground on a desert island, he's confronted with dozens of clones of himself before an army of crabs emerge from the sand, pick up his vessel and scuttle away with it.
And once again, Depp proves to be a natural-born swashbuckler. With so many special effects they start to lose the wow factor as the movie goes on. And, believe me, this is a film that goes on, clocking in at no less than 168 minutes. Pirates may make your jaw thud to the ground, but it'll also make your bum go blue.
But they're unlikely to prevent Pirates launching a fresh assault on our pockets. Shot back-to-back with the second part during a gruelling 284-day shoot, there's already talk of a fourth film. Pirates' legion of fans worldwide will no doubt be yo-ho-hoping Captain Jack will be sailing again