New Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: Pwning the Box-Office

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2007)

Ahhhsmell that? That's the smell of the greatest trilogy of my lifetime (I was born in 1990, so the original Star Wars and Back to the Future don't count) coming to a phenomenal end. Sad? No, actually. This trilogy was absolutely breathtaking in every way, shape, and form, and it's so comforting to know that Verbinski has tied it all up for good.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End literally picks up right where the cliffhanging Dead Man's Chest left off. Captain Barbossa (Rush) is alive again, Jack (Depp) is in Davey Jones's Locker, and Will (Bloom) and Elizabeth (Knightly) are trying to rescue him. All the while, the ruthless Lord Beckett (Hollander) has taken control over the Lord of the Sea Davey Jones (Nighy) and his almighty ship, the Flying Dutchman.
This movie takes you all over the globe and beyond, opening up with a fantastically violent brawl in Singapore, where our crew meets up with the Pirate Lord Sao Feng (Yun-Fat). From there, Barbossa leads them to the ultra-trippy Locker, which will have you scratching your head, seeing quadruples, and wondering what the heck the writers were smoking when they wrote this. Still, really fun.
Without giving away the plot, I will say that this movie goes back to the roots of the original in the sense of more fights, less land-locked scenes, and more cannon fire. Johnny Depp, obviously, delivers in a hilarious way, as usual. Kiera Knightly has a more emotional role this time around, something she pulls of beautifully. And Orlando Bloom has hit the target with Will Turner. Let's face it: nobody has ever liked Will. He's such a pansy compared to Jack or Norrington (in DMC anyway). But in AWE, Orlando delivers like he's never delivered before. I was actually amazed by his performance. I would say he was the best character development in this movie, if not for Geoffrey Rush. I don't think there is a fan out there that hasn't missed Barbossa. Seriously, that guy kicks so much, the Spartans would think twice before fighting him. He is a fantastic returning character that everyone will surely love to watch.
Chow Yun-Fat has, actually, a somewhat smaller part in this movie, which is funny because he's been publicized to death in all the commercials and posters. Naomie Harris does a good job as the creepy voodoo chick, Tia Dalma, and Bill Nighy hits it out of the ballpark as the CGI Davey Jones. Angus Barnett and Giles New make their triumphant returns as Mullroy and Murtogg from the first movie, two characters that made me feel at home again. But the real applause roared when a certain rock star appears on the screen as Jack Sparrow's much-anticipated father The movie has no slow points, yet it is extremely long (nearly three hours!) but a true Pirate fan wouldn't be able to tell. There is one scene concerning Tia Dalma that really was justbadI'll let you watch the movie and, no doubt, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The end iswow. Unexpected, shocking, and amazing. I won't give anything away about the shocking ending, but the very end (like, right before the credits) goes back to the original humor that made everyone fall in love with the first movie.
But, honestly, this month has just been conquered. The spider has been squished. The ogre doesn't have a happily ever after. This May belongs to Pirates!