"Take what you can - give nothing back"

Rating: 9/10 (31 December 2007)

If a sequel is a dangerous thing in terms of deteriorating storytelling quality, then a third installment is even more perilous, with an even greater risk of destroying characterization and tainting the memory of previously strong installments. Thankfully, such a potential conflict was tastefully avoided for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In a year fraught with third parts, At World's End, the culminating part of the pirates trilogy makes its mark as one of the few final installments to live up to the vivacity and spirit of its predecessors while still distinctly different enough to for the most part not feel overly familiar or formulaic.
As consequence of attempting to do something different enough with the series to keep things interesting but still stay true to the hard won Pirates spirit, At World's End comes across as a hodgepodge of lofty faux-mythology and a slightly darker but still spirited adventure romp. As such, the film's convoluted plot is admittably difficult to follow, but one has to give director Gore Verbinski credit for not dumbing down or rushing his film. Instead, Verbinski takes his time, producing a sprawling epic of an adventure film, with a distinctly different feel than the other two Pirates films, while retaining their charming sense of fun throughout enough to make it easy to forget the occasionally over complicated and lofty plot. Similarly, the film benefits enormously from its astonishing presentation: the stunning costumes, sets and props, as well as some of the most spectacular and elaborate visual effects ever boasted on film (the final showdown sequence is a jaw-dropper) as well as Hans Zimmer's rousing, dramatic score make for such an enormously powerful exterior it is easy to overlook the occasionally confusing storyline and sit immersed in one of the most flooring adventure epics in recent memory.
The film is reminiscent of the days of classic Hollywood epics, when a film could drift and dabble about for a bit without being chastised by audiences with shortened attention spans, (Peter Jackson's King Kong remake also fell prey to similar complaints) and no scene is distinctly without purpose. Sure the Singapore sequence and surreal, Kafka-esq hallucination sequence in Davy Jones' locker (one of the most bizarre and memorable depictions of the afterlife, and its inclusion into a mainstream blockbuster is a daring and laudable choice) may not be entirely necessary in terms of furthering the plot, but they sure are tremendously fun, enough so to justify their presence. What does slow the film down are the often overkill and unnecessary inside jokes and references to the first two films - comic double-act Ragetti and Pintel are given far too much screen time to crack the same, increasingly unfunny jokes over and over, and did those two bumbling soldiers from the first film really need to be brought back? The exclusion of such moments could easily trim a good 10 minutes off the lengthy running time, a blessing indeed. However, to the film's credit, such complaints are few, and the extensive story is tied up neatly with surprisingly few plot holes and lapses in continuity for a trilogy which ambitiously covered so much storytelling ground.
Despite the film being the third outing for the stellar cast, instead of simply coasting along, they all attack their roles with the same charisma and conviction as the prior two outings. Johnny Depp is just as eccentric, endearing and endlessly charismatic as the now iconic Captain Jack Sparrow, breathing genuine life into the character instead of lapsing into a parody of himself. Orlando Bloom is given more of a chance to expand his undeniably unlimited dramatic range, as his charming Will Turner drifts more into deception and betrayal. Keira Knightley retains her trademark spunky energy yet classical poise as the now seafaring Elizabeth, carrying one of the sole female roles with charisma aplenty. The scene stealing Geoffrey Rush, as a reincarnated Captain Barbossa shows just as much relish in energetically chomping the scenery as ever, as does the enormously talented Bill Nighy, once again outshining the astonishing CGI covering him in tentacles and breathing genuine menace and haunting sadness into his tremendously memorable Davy Jones.
Chow Yun-Fat is entertainingly menacing, if sometimes incomprehensible as feared Singapore pirate Sao Feng, and the suitably icy Tom Hollander, Stellan Skarsgård as Will's undead father and the tremendously watchable Naomi Harris as the mysterious Tia Dalma (whose character resolution leaves something to be desired) all reprise their roles to tremendous effect. Instead of simply cutting out the characters of Jonathan Pryce as Elizabeth's harried father and Jack Davenport as the flawed but noble James Norrington, they are each given one last moment to shine - a classy storytelling touch. And the much hyped Keith Richards (Depp's inspiration for the Jack Sparrow character) cameo is carried out in a far more straightforward and effective fashion than one would anticipate, without the comedic glee of the moment being tampered with.
While the film may not quite match up to the uniform excellence of the first, it drifts so tantalizingly close that one is inclined to wish that Verbinski and his creative crew could have ironed out the very few unnecessary bits or lapses in credibility and emerge with a more streamlined adventure escapade. As it is, At World's End still makes its mark as astonishingly strong for a third installment. The film whips along at such a breakneck pace that the lengthy running time elapses in seemingly no time, so immersed are the audience within the unparalleled spectacle of one of the most ambitious and enormously entertaining adventure epics in years - a fitting close to a trilogy which initially boasted the same effect.
-8.5/10