Popular franchise produces average sequel

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2008)

Johnny Depp (Ed Wood) Keira Knightly (Pride and Prejudice) and Orlando Bloom (Lord of the rings) return for the third instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
Jack Sparrow is lost At World's end and his crew and friends are off to save him in this average fantasy adventure sequel. As anticipated it made millions in its first weekend at the box office, showing the modern power of franchises.
The first film gave audiences excitement and a new look toward pirate life with an energetic tale about Aztec gold and myths. The second introduced more characters and gave us a wider scale of pirate life with a more fantasy approach to pirate life. And this third is all about settling the issues opened up, with a more political and personal approach to issues. As good as the first film is, the last 2 have been below par with average plots, over the top graphics and silly humour. But then again, the first film was such a high standard for the sequels to live up to.
Depp is on top form again as the quirky and brilliant Jack Sparrow. The character has changed from being smart and initiative to more silly and predictable. Depp does his best to make use of some poor dialogue. Bloom and Knightley are more effect than usual in their loved up roles. Another downfall is there are too many characters. The first film worked well, focusing specifically on about 5 or 6, but this is too diverse.
It's the plot that lets the film down though. There is too much going on, there is no real believability in context and all ideas appear far fetched. Interestingly, it has a political agenda encoded, perhaps to give audiences a taste of the pirate community as a whole. The ending is very tense and very engaging, and funny at occasions I may add. The rivalries between characters are portrayed well, although exaggerated at some turns but enough to keep viewers entertained. The lighting and direction are good; giving the film a dark feel to it helps it justify the mood and situations characters face.
its one of those films thats either all about the stars, or all about the graphics.
watch the Curse of the Black Pearl, forget the sequels