Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the third part of this wildly successful franchise. Based very loosely on the Disney franchise ride, Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow as he leads his band of marauding pirates.

I didn't really like the first two parts, so I'm not quite sure why I even wanted to see the third. Oh yeah, it was that they worked overtime on the special effects department including some new mathematical formula for water modeling in the CGI scenes with the ships circling a whirlpool. For the record, that part was pretty good, but hardly revolutionary from what I saw.

This third installment of Pirates follows the pattern of the other two. We begin with a bang, we have a quite s-l-o-w middle that goes on interminably, and we end with a great shootout and special effects. Unfortunately, at least for me, a veteran of the ride in both Disneyland (California), and Walt Disney World (Florida (I remember when it was an E ticket ride)), who has sailed with the pirates more times than I can remember, I just can't see what all the excitement is with these films. Along the way, Captain Sparrow has to reclaim his ship, scenes with Davy Jones get interjected but really make no sense, and the whole thing becomes one big drag- I'm not sure how the kids can sit through this! Just when I can't take it any more, the cannons fire a broadside volley, the boarding party jumps into action, and we finish strongly in the last few minutes.

I simply feel that it's just not worth it to me to sit through over two hours of movie to see a half an hour of content worth watching. Clearly, from the film's gross earnings, I'm on the minority here. At any rate, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has first rate special effects, but I wish the story made more sense and was more developed in keeping with the length of this film.

Overall Grade: C+

Reviewed by Jonas