"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow."

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2006)

The quote in the summary is from Shakespeare and while not wanting to appear pretentious, I thought I would try something different in this mini-essay, something more along the lines of a critical assessment than an actual review (irrelevant now -- the audience has spoken, decisively) because I believe many of the A-list critics (see www.rottentomatoes.com for the grim details), missed the boat on this wonderful film.
This is a fully and beautifully realized world of myth, magic, and voodoo and happily everyone keeps a straight face as they confront it. If the symbology is a bit too literal at times, well, the sea brings that out in people, particularly in this part of the world of three centuries ago. Where creatures, such as the Kraken, a beast of relentless fury, can be slowed but not stopped. Where the "heartless" Davy Jones collides with the Flying Dutchman (a conflation that I believe is a first). And where, despite the rich fantasy, the emotions, conflicts, psychologies are all too real, even in Jack Sparrow (the role Johnny Depp was born to play). He is heading for a terrible fall, as in truth are all the major characters. Elizabeth has come to understand that whatever the degree of her attraction for Jack, the man simply cannot be trusted. His core is hollow, which I suspect Jack himself now realizes and is at the root of his deep problem that he no longer knows what he wants. He knows what he doesn't want, to be sure, yet it is unclear to what degree he can fight back against even that realization. And poor Will Turner, clearly stretched to the limit, is in a situation nearly as bad. Others are also in supreme jeopardy. (One of the great things about this film is the taking of minor characters from the first film, such as Norrington, and putting them head to head against Sparrow and Turner -- and watching them hold their own as they come to grips with their own fate.)
In short, there is the possibility for great tragedy here -- if the writers have the courage to follow through (no more rum and cross-dressing jokes, please!) Could we have a Hamlet on the high seas? I believe we could. The elements are there -- but will marketing permit it? It's anyone's guess. Following the analogy of POTC:DMC being the "Empire Strikes Back" of the trilogy, we all know what happened in that case: will a great opportunity be lost as we endure the sea-going equivalent of "Ewoks?" Or worse? I am worried. As is well-known, shooting of the third film began before the script was complete, a bad sign. The next installment could go all the way (on the order of ET and Titanic), but it would be foolish to count on it.
Still to have come this far is an incredible achievement. To those A-list critics (3:2 against) who either did not watch the movie or could not bring themselves to view the first film -- there's a reason it's called a sequel, guys -- for shame. But as noted, the public, and indeed the world, has spoken. Good luck to all people involved in the production of the concluding film : "At World's End."