It is precisely this obligation to tie up all the stories and close the cycle that ends up being too big a load for the old Caribbean ships

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2020)

Filmed simultaneously with "The Chest of Death", this third film closes the arc of the story started in "The Curse of the Black Pearl" and became the highest grossing film of the year of its release, dragging millions to movie theaters worldwide. This third part is usually remembered as the weakest of the initial three films in the franchise, something that is even unfair, considering the way The Chest of Death was finished. That said, it is undeniable that this final chapter has numerous defects, one of them being the prolonged duration, a characteristic inherited from its predecessors. Yes, there are missed opportunities and poorly taken advantage of, but that does not mean that this is not a worthy closure for this first part of the adventures of Jack Sparrow and his troupe.
In "At the End of the World," Lord Cuttler Beckett (Tom Hollander), of the East India Company, takes command of the ghost ship Flying Dutchman. The ship, now under the command of Admiral James Norrington (Jack Davenport), has the mission to roam the seven seas in search of pirates and kill them without mercy. In order to arrest Beckett, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) need to reunite the Nine Lords of the Brotherhood Court. However, one of the Lords is missing, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). The trio leaves for Singapore, intending to get the map that will lead them to the end of the world, which will allow Jack to be rescued. However, to get the map they will need to face a Chinese pirate, Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat).
This is a work that invariably needs to be watched right after O Baú da Morte. Many of the events that take place here continue those we saw in the predecessor and the script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio is not at all concerned with reminding us of what had happened, except, of course, of Sparrow's death. The whole dynamic involving Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) or even Davy Jones will sound extremely confusing to those who do not remember the previous feature film, and as a result, it is safe to say that this third installment of the franchise does not hold up at all by itself.
The highlight, obviously, goes to the final battle, which is something complex and fun, with countless actions being carried out by the most diverse characters. Gore Verbinski really shines in the direction, hitting the scope of this duel between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman, with Stephen Rivkin's montage making everything extremely dynamic, while we jump from pirate to pirate, everyone fighting for something specific, be it Barbossa trying to keep Pearl in an advantageous position, or Jack dueling against Davy at the top of the mast. Even an impromptu wedding we have a chance to see. It is an impressive sequence, which does not sound as drawn as the climax of the previous two. Despite this, the script simply ignores all the pirate lords, who only watch the entire combat, as well as the British East India Company fleet, something that makes no sense. The worst thing is that it ends up making almost all interaction in the pirates' stronghold unnecessary, since the alliance signed there does not bring any results, besides giving Elizabeth "powers". The same goes for Calypso, although some tips about it were given in The Chest of Death.
As we discussed above, this third part ends up wasting many of the cards at its disposal, not doing justice to the two fleets that face each other in this final battle. There are countless points to be tied, so many subplots developing at the same time, an enormous amount of characters with little enough time on the scene to awaken empathy in the viewer. Almost three hours long, the script goes around so many times that we are asking ourselves: "But what are they really doing? What do they want? Where are they going? What are they looking for? Who needs to be saved?" There are so many exaggerations that we are anesthetized, amortized, and we don't even pay attention, inert with the twists and turns, just when the opposite should be happening.
Here, Captain Jack Sparrow has a good time, but ends up sharing the screen with countless characters that fill the screen. Geoffrey Rush, the scary Captain Barbossa, became a mere supporting character, almost without purpose - all the uproar caused by his appearance at the end of the second film vanishes in the air. The same is true of Bill Nighy's terrible Davy Jones, who had caused so much fear and disgust previously, but which now resembles a tormented puppet. But really bad are the two great additions to the cast: Chow Yun-Fat (The Tiger and the Dragon, 2000), as vaunted as the most dangerous pirate in the east, dies before the middle of the film, while the long-awaited and commented participation by rocker Keith Richards (member of the band Rolling Stones), as Sparrow's father, besides being insignificant, it takes more than two hours to happen. With Tom Hollander gaining more prominence in this film, the graphic narrative takes new directions. Jones leaves the antagonism a little aside and is replaced by Beckett. Hollander delivers a good villain, of those that we feel hatred just by hearing his name, but it falls short of the prominence that Bill Nighy gives the captain of the Flying Dutchman.
On the technical side, there is no doubt about the spectacular work. Dariusz Wolski's photography remains one of the points that make this series a success. As dark as the scene is and with a lot of rain, we can see the richness of details that the production team managed to put in the scenarios that comprised the two ships. Not to mention that, throughout the film, we have numerous scenes of destruction of vessels and locations made without the help of CGI, such as Singapore and the island where the Pirate Brotherhood Court meeting takes place. The soundtrack is again splendid, once again featuring compositions by the genius Hans Zimmer. Tracks like "The Brethren Court", "Calypso", "What Shall We Die for" and "One Day" enrich the story of the plot and make it even more epic.
Some of the characteristics of pirate films were lost, but it made up for the new characters, the action scenes with masterfully choreographed fights and the creation of new scenarios and conflicts. The problem is that everything was left to be solved in a third part. And it is a lot. A lot of things. As if the complicated plot weren't enough, with the appearance of new characters, the humor was lost. And it is precisely this obligation to tie up all the stories and close the cycle that ends up being too big a load for the old Caribbean ships. With a darker plot, and that consequently has less funny situations, time never seems to run. The long explanations of the inexplicable tie not only the heads of first-time sailors, not to mention the countless twists and betrayals so meaningless that in the end all that remains for the viewer is to let the story go and look at the horizon, waiting for the final battle that is approaching and the end that never comes - there is a 2h48 projection until that hidden scene after the credits.
With a very closed ending, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At the End of the World" fulfills, very well, the duty of giving all characters their respective happy endings and leads some others to find their cruel destinies. Without a doubt, this is the most epic Pirates of the Caribbean film. However, the film sins in rhythm, with inappropriate timing and showing an empty profusion of meaningless special effects, as if they were there just to justify the $ 300 million spent on the budget. Despite all the problems, it is a film made with absolute care and that provides several striking scenes. It is a guaranteed fun that is worth embarking on.