5.29.2007

The Pirates Review Post

I was really determined not to let this movie be another Spiderman 3, where in I expect too much in some regards, and too little in others. Ultimately I think it was my preconceptions and expectations that made me not enjoy ‘spidey as much as I could have. About half an hour into At Worlds End, I stopped overanalyzing plot points and looking for more than was right in front of me, and decided to accept the movie for what it is; a swashbuckling summer movie and the latest sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time. From that point on I enjoyed myself thoroughly and welcome the movie into the ‘pirates trilogy. Sure there are little inconsistencies and a fair bit of unnecessary ‘twists’ (if you can all them that), but the main plotline and the big reveals were worth the wait and the action was top notch.


As a result of being the 3rd in a series of dynamic films; the movie suffers from too many Jack Sparrows. I don’t mean that in the obvious sense (I love the hallucinations) but more so, there are far more characters fighting for the audience attention than
one movie warrants. The main draw is (as always) Jack Sparrow, but Verbinksi has the movie waterlogged with too many fully fleshed-out characters to the point where killing them off is really the only option.

With Davy Jones being the most badass (and visually stunning) villain in a long time, I didn’t realize how much I missed Barbossa. Geoffrey Rush is the official voice of all things piratety. He could be telling you about his new ornate tea set and it would sound like he was telling you to walk the plank. The way he growls his lines sends shivers to me timbers and is more, than welcomed back into the story. In Jones’s defense his character is taken to a new level and Bill Nighy is as fantastic as ever. I loved the unnecessary Jerry-Bruckheimer-moment on Becket’s ship. I was half expecting a helicopter to fly in and explode, piloted by Nic Cage, while slow motion doves blossomed behind the ship.

The visualization of Davy Jones’s locker and the madness it ensues, as well as the amazing shipwreck fortress overcast the movie’s lower points (the Kraken explanation and Tia Dalma’s involvement- which, for the record Sarah and I predicted like a million years ago). And while I (along with everyone else I’ve asked) was quite confused as to who was double-crossing who, and for what end, the fact of the matter is that we are dealing with pirates. They backstab and double-cross all the time, and as long as they continue to plunder, cross steal and face off with ILM powered tentacles, I have no problem not knowing who’s on whose side.

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