Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End Review

Overall Rating

Exciting
Fun and light-hearted
Ties most of the plotlines up nicely

Maybe a tad long
Will and Elizabeth characters not as likeable as normal

I really enjoyed this film. Still not quite as fresh the first, but contained enough new elements to keep the interest.

Having not been particularly impressed with the second film, it was refreshing to leave the cinema with my expectations exceeded. The special effects and action sequences reached a new level in complexity, excitement and realism. What pleased me most, though, was that it was just plain fun. I absolutely loved the Davy Jones' Locker sequence, in which the film-makers were confident to take things to the surreal (I won't spoil it for anyone, you'll understand what I mean when you see it). There was double-, triple- and quadruple-crossing galore, which has a tendency to confuse me if I'm not concentrating but really adds to the fun. There were also plenty of gags to keep people of all ages amused (watch out for Jack the monkey, who gets a bigger role in this film).

The re-introduction of Barbossa, and the way he and Jack compete for the Black Pearl was a great development of their relationship from the first film. Norrington's part was sadly too small, but Beckett remains a dirty piece of work, who the audience love to hate. Sadly, due to the larger number of characters competing for screen time we see less of Davy Jones, but Bill Nighy's excellent performance means he remains an enjoyable character.

My only character gripe relates to Will and Elizabeth, who are both less likeable than in the first 2 films as they have other agendas that compete with their nicey-nicey appearance. However, I have a suspicion that repeated viewings on DVD may convince me that this was a clever move to catch the audience off-guard. It may ultimately have made the film better. Unfortunately, though, it does result in the most ridiculous and clunky part of the plot as they contrive to get married at the most inappropriate time, and after they'd barely spoken to each other throughout the rest of the film.

This is a minor point though, and overall the third film is far more polished than the second, while not reaching the level of the first. It's well known that numbers 2 and 3 were filmed at the same time, and it's clear to me that the extra year the editors had to work on number 3 really improved things, whereas number 2 always felt a bit rushed.

In conclusion, the whole trilogy is superbly made and written. I would recommend all three films, despite the negative reviews. For pure entertainment value, they can't be beaten!