Triples the Spectacle

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2017)

When push comes to shove, the Pirates films are about one thing and one thing only, entertainment. Amidst all of the nonsensical humor and action, I don't know how you wouldn't at least be entertained by what Johnny Depp & company had to offer.
At World's End once again doubles down on everything that made the second film ridiculously fun. Except this time the film is a solid 2 hours and 48 minutes long. I guess if you're going to spend 300 million dollars on a film might as well make it lengthy, right? The length and it's convoluted and wandering plot are sure to annoy some viewers (it certainly annoyed me), but there's more than enough to make this another worthy entry in Disney's bankable series.
After Beckett and the Navy managed to steal Davy Jones' heart and impose a ban on pirates across the seas, Will, Elizabeth, and Barbossa must form an alliance to find Jack Sparrow and come together for one final battle. There's a lot to like here, including some of the best choreographed and shot action of the entire series. Merely analyzing the final 35 minutes was enough to get my blood flowing. This series has never shied away from going all out with action and escapades, and At World's End is no different. I'm not even sure 50 percent of the films made today look half as good as this film does. However, there are always downsides to relying heavily on the spectacle.
As I mentioned with Dead Man's Chest, the spectacle overtook any sort of uniqueness or cleverness to the script that made the first adventure so fresh. Johnny Depp is way past the point of over-the- top, and so is the film. You feel like there's real danger in the first film, but most of that is gone by the supernatural and fantastical elements they bring in here. Nobody expected to see Sparrow sit an entire film out after being eaten by the Kraken last film, but it sure seemed pretty easy to get him back. And when we do get him back, he spends most of his time talking to hallucinated versions of himself that refuse to go away. The plot also tends to always fall back on one member of the crew being either 'missing' or 'captured' by another ship/crew. It gets tiring after a while.
I think they set out to make the biggest adventure possible, and you have to give the people involved credit for truly bringing it. But I can completely understand where people get tired of mindless action without much wit and far less charm than the first film had. But hey, I'm still having a blast going back and re-watching some of my childhood favorites.
+Spectacle is unmatched
+Zimmer's score is epic
+Jaw-dropping action
-Plot wanders
-Lengthy
7.8/10