Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
(aka Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Pirates of the Caribbean III)
2007; directed by Gore Verbinski

The final film in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, At World's End thankfully brings back some of the whimsy and humor that made the first movie so fun to watch. Unfortunately, though, it retains a lot of the overbloated plot and characterization that made the second entry such a terrible mess. But, hey, you get to see Chow Yun-Fat as a swashbuckling pirate, which is pretty cool, right? Right?

Being that this is the third film in a series where the installments run at nearly three hours, doing any sort of somewhat plot explanation is really just an excercise in futility. Boiled down to it's core, At World's End has the drunken and funny pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) going against the evil British captain Norrington (Jack Davenport). But, as you might expect, there is a lot more going on here.

In fact, there is a whole hell of a lot more going on here, and that is At World's End's main problem. If you haven't watched the first two movies. I wouldn't even bother with this installment, because you'll simply have no idea at all what's happening. Even if you have watched the previous entries, you might still fell a bit puzzled. The third movie in a trilogy should really be like a third act in a play -- all of the characters should be established, and we should just be watching for the resolution. But director Gore Verbinski still feels the need to throw in new characters and plot turns, to the point that the ongoing matters just become a muddled mess. Not to mention that, for some unfathomable reason, he feels the need to leave room for yet another sequel, so even when the movie (and trilogy) ends, things still feel a bit unresolved.

There are some positives here -- Johnny Depp seems to relish his role as Jack Sparrow, and that feeling translates onto the viewer. And, like the other films, the special effects displayed here are outstanding. If CGI can be likened to "eye candy", then At World's End is the cinematic equivalent of a king-sized Nut Goodie. As good as these sorts of things are, if you're expecting your audience to sit down for three hours, you really have to offer more than a few laughs or some nifty action sequences for them to leave a viewing with anything other than a very mild positive feeling.

RATING: 5