Popcorn Required

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2007)

From the outset of the 'Pirates' franchise, it was obvious that the Walt Disney Company was traveling down a well known path. Not only was the film based on one of Disney's most beloved attractions, it told a reasonably old fashioned Swashbuckle picture. Of course, special effects and insurmountable amounts of eye shadow were thrown in as flavor.
The second was high entertainment with more effects and more eye shadow, yet it had lost some of it's wacky charm. The third has returned to form with flying colors. Never has Jack Sparrow been more comically reliable. Orlando Bloom's Will Turner has become a much more believable character.
Dead Man's Chest (the second film) left us hanging, on the edge of our seats, craving more. At World's end delivers more and then some. The film details the search to bring Capt. Jack Sparrow (the incomparable Johnny Depp)back from the land of the dead. This requires the assistance of wiley Capt. Barabossa (Geoffery Rush). The film leads to the climactic battle of the Pirate Lords (including Chow Yun Fat as Sao Feng) against the Eas India Trading Company led by malevolent Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) who know controls the Flying Dutchman by way of Davy Jones'(Bill Nighy) heart.
Follow me? Well, it is irrelevant anyways. The plot of the three films just seems to be some far fetched fantasy to hang sea battles and sword fights on. There is nothing wrong with that. There is so much double crossing and even triple crossing in this film that it could be mistaken for a Pulp rag of the 1950's, were it not for the ships and pirates.
The proceedings are, as always, heightened by the glorious talents of Depp and Rush, who play so well together that one wonders what would come of a different film starring both actors where they had the same sort of relationship.
At World's End is 168 minutes of non stop visual splendor, not once did I check the clock in boredom. That's something I couldn't say about Dead Man's Chest, which is 18 minutes shorter.
However, I think the biggest and most deserved praise I could give this film is that it most certainly makes the popcorn taste better.