Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End

Year: 2007
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Chow Yun Fat, Tom Hollander, Naomie Harris

I love Jack Sparrow. He's probably one of the most enigmatic screen heroes of the millenium. Most people will admire him not for being a courageous hero, but for being charming and hilarious. There probably will never be another lead character just like him, and it's safe to say that the Pirates franchise thrives on Sparrow and Johnny Depp's portrayal of him.

And now we have the 3rd instalment, At World's End. Let's recap Dead Man's Chest: Jack Sparrow gets swallowed by Davy Jones' pet squid The Kraken, the East India Trading Company gains control of the Flying Dutchman thanks to James Norrington, and Captain Barbossa is alive! So what happens next? At World's End begins with a grim execution scene, followed by Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann making their way to Singapore to find Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng. Sao Feng has a chart that can lead them to Davy Jones' locker and free Jack Sparrow. But of course, why would Barbossa want to free his old enemy? It's that old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Barbossa plans to hold the Brethren Court, a UN type meeting for pirates, and he needs Jack to attend, since the latter is one of the members.

Barbossa has a plan: to join forces with the pirates of the world and battle the East India Trading Company, who now have the Flying Dutchman under their command. Sparrow wants no part of it, but eventually gets dragged in thanks to some double crossing by Sao Feng and Will Turner. But don't you bother on the hows and whys as far as this is concerned, for it will drag the fun away from the action unfolding. The best action sequence is definitely the battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman during the film's climax.

Director Gore Verbinski once again pulls out all the stops to make Pirates Of The Caribbean a fun, rip-roaring adventure. Swordfights, explosions, storms, drama, romance, you name it. It's all here. The only letdown is the complicated plot which involves the personal motives of Elizabeth and Will, when what the audience really wants is more of Jack. But hey, Barbossa gets more screen time in this one, which is good.

Performance wise, most of them stand out. I don't have to mention Depp, do I? Oh well, fine. He does great, it's his character after all. Rush still has the chops to play Barbossa, though you'd love him just a little more in Curse Of The Black Pearl. Knightley and Bloom are in form as Elizabeth and Will respectively, though Knightley gets a little too much screen time than before in this one. It's good in some ways, but not that great in other ways. Chow Yun Fat makes good with his limited screen time as Sao Feng, while Nighy hams it up as Davy Jones. Keep a lookout for returning supporting characters, especially Pintel & Ragetti, played by Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook. Oh, and look out for Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards making an appearance too.

Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have definitely pulled out another successful movie for this summer, despite the fact that At World's End clocks in at 2 hours and 48 minutes. I say it's still better than the other expensive sequel about a certain wall crawler. (4.5/5)