Yaaarrrrr!!!!!

All your favorite swashbuckling stars are back for another scurvy-ridden, barnacle-encrusted, rum-soaked adventure with Pirates of the Caribbean III : At World’s End. After the second installment, I was a little afraid that the third would be mired down in its own plot and way too over the top, but the fact that this was by far the most expensive movie endevour in years actually pays off for this historical fantasy spectacle.

In true pirate fashion, the film goes completely all out and makes no apologies for anything. Disney, Bruckheimer and Verbinski clearly have a lot of faith in their audience as they compound on one new character after the next along with interweaving plot points and a good dose of pirate lore and mythology as icing. But somehow rather than being confusing it all works well and delivers an absolutely indulgent and no holds barred experience for the willing. Even the visuals are completely sumptuous and decadent to match. Similar to the feeling you get from actually understanding what’s going in a Harry Potter book, new characters fit in with old ones that pop up here and there and it feels good to keep up. I’ve grown so tired of people complaining about this, so instead I’ll say thank you for not watering things down and for giving us something interesting to watch and digest. I like that they actually use some historical facts and characters while at the same time not taking themselves too seriously and expanding on old superstition and stories. The complication seems to even mock itself at times with characters struggling to explain their own plans and actions. There’s a point in the film where you honestly don’t know who to trust anymore and to me that’s the most piratey scenario.

Without giving anything away, I will just say that the ending is satisfying without being sappy. The film is over the top, but why would you want a Disney movie about pirates and magic to be any other way? Even though the sequel trend is reaching frightening proportions, Pirates III takes on some heady chances that’s quite refreshing in the long run. Even the score displays this as Zimmer stays true to Badelt’s original themes while playing around with modern influences and adding his own slew of variations. The performances are perfectly pirate-like (especially Geoffrey Rush who absolutely shines) and each character, even the minor ones, are given their due of attention in this last hurrah. The film has admittedly lost some of the light-hearted charm of the original chapter, but much like the Star Wars series, this deep, dark conclusion is the proper wrap up to the frenzied pirate spell the movies have cast on theater-goers. If you liked the others, you will love this and if you didn’t, give it a try anyway because it may just surprise you. Just don’t make my same mistake of leaving before the credits are over…

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.