Goes a long way to redeem At Worlds End but still needs polishing

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2011)

I hardly saw any previews and so went in expecting nothing and I was left surprised which is good, as I was really let down by the last part. At Worlds End was a bloated, convoluted special effect driven mess that had me hoping that there would be no more Pirates movies. Gore Verbinski pulled a Wachoswski brothers in destroying the goodwill they created with the first Matrix with two very poor sequels. While Verbinski had a better second movie the third is very comparable to Matrix 3.
The Positives: The humour is mostly back and it was funny, unlike the lame jokes from AWE.
Penelope Cruz looked really amazing, till I realized later that she was 7 months pregnant at the time of shooting- what a glow! She also held up very well in her role and her comic timing was excellent. I hope she makes it into the next movie.
Less special effects and more real action. This is a huge step up from AWE whose ending was terrible.
No Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley! Yahoo! This deserves a 7 rating just for just positive alone! Slightly more focus on the story, even if it is still weak compared to the first movie The negatives: The story is still weak and not totally focused which let down the movie overall The opening action sequence was unnecessary, dull and overly expectant. It was a copy of the action from the first movie so it was just a matter of going through the routine. Not very funny either.
Sparrow being the focal point of the story was not handled well. In fact the more the story focused on Sparrow the less interesting he became.
Blackbeard's story was very dull and for a fearsome pirate...he was not. Ian Mcshane didn't do the character any justice and he could have well been left out.
The movie suffers from too many plot angles still...There's Sparrow vs Barbossa, Sparrow Vs Blackbeard, Sparrow and Barbossa Vs Blackbeard, Sparrow vs Blackbeard AND the Spaniards...The plot still suffers from the parts 2 and 3 problems. This needs to be toned down to one or two rivalries, not the whole world vs Jack Sparrow Barbossa was not interesting and it's time that this character is cut from the plot entirely.
Gibbs's role was really reduced which is a shame because he provided plenty of good humour in the first movie and he and Sparrow shared a really good camaraderie. He needs to have a bigger role in the next movie.
All in all it's still worth watching at the cinema. Ignore the opening and ending sequence. It's a good start to repair the damage done by AWE but it still needs improvement. If there are still 2 more sequels to come then they have time to get it right. So far the first movie still ranks as the best, even if orlando bloom and keira knightley are in it.