Astonishing, thrilling, relentless, but the screenplay . . .

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2007)

I am recommending this movie, never doubt that. The good news is that Jack is back and the Black Pearl has him. There are a lot of funny bits, the action sequences are every bit as good as you have heard, and the pacing is just right. The nearly three hours zips right along. And the story resolution among Elizabeth, William, and his father works fine. Yes, do stay for the final scene after the credits. (And for those who hate Bloom & Knightly, go away. The actors are doing exactly what these movies ask of them and doing it very well.)
And there truly is so much here to commend in this film, particularly as we follow our heroes to the "haunted shores" of the afterlife. Time after time you will be asking yourself: how did they do that? As a mythology, it never flags and the three movies taken together are a remarkable cinematic accomplishment which took increasing risks that paid off.
So why am I sour on the screen play? Here's the problem. As is well known, when they started shooting the final film (Note: they only completed 40% of AWE when they were filming DMC), the screen play for the third was not yet finished. This is a bad thing. See this movie and you will understand why this is a bad thing. What happens when you do that is story holes open up. And what do I mean by holes? It means a given character acts as the screenplay demands he act -- forget about what the character has said/done prior or what we know about him or have seen him do. He/she has become a puppet to the screenplay. I could easily list three major instances where this happened and I am sure any fan going through the movie scene by scene could come up with many more.
It did not have to be. The two screen writers are first rate as is the director. But once marketing and management got a hold of the thing, it became schedule-driven and I guess it couldn't be stopped. Certainly, Disney did not return my calls. To be fair, probably most viewers will not notice or will not care. But greatness beckoned, and they settled for okay and full-speed ahead for the effects.
Oh well, I'll see it again anyway.