Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Captain Jack's New Adventure (No Spoilers)
Written: May 25 '07 (Updated Sep 19 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: Johnny Depp. Entertaining movie with wonderful visuals and effects.
Cons: Could be too long and complex for some.
The Bottom Line: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was a very entertaining movie. Fans of the first two movies or Johnny Depp should see it at least once.
dragonfire88's Full Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
I loved Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl when it came out. A big part of why I loved the movie so much was Johnny Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. I didn't think that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was as good as the first movie, but I still enjoyed it. I've been looking forward to seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for a long time.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the third movie to feature Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann on some type of adventure. This movie really built on things that had been introduced in the second movie, so it would be best if people saw that one before seeing this one. Certain things won’t make much sense if that movie isn’t watched first.
I am only going to mention things when talking about the plot that were shared in the trailer, so I don’t consider them to be spoilers for this movie. Anyone that hasn’t seen any trailers yet and prefers not to know anything about the plot should skip the next paragraph. Some of the things I mention would be spoilers for people who haven’t already seen the second movie.
****Minor Plot Discussion**** Captain Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma and the crew of the Black Pearl set off to find Jack who was having a very bizarre experience. Lord Cutler Beckett was moving forward with his plan to control all the oceans by using Davey Jones and his cursed crew. All the pirate lords had to join together to face Beckett and Jones in battle to protect their way of life.
****End of Minor Plot Discussion****
There was a short scene after the end of the credits like was done with the first two movies. This scene was a bit longer than the ones in the previous movies. I felt like this scene was more important than the others had been.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End picked up shortly after the end of the second movie, though it wasn’t completely clear exactly how much time had passed. No time was taken for any kind of recap before things started happening. I didn’t have trouble keeping track of what was going on even though the plot was complicated. There was a lot going on, with characters double crossing each other more than once while trying to deal with the consequences of their previous actions. I believe it was more complicated than the plot of the second movie. That did make the movie run almost three hours long. Some people might fell that the plot was too complicated. I recently read that Gore Verbinski said that the movie was intended to require multiple viewings to catch everything.
The characters faced yet another adventure that put them in several dangerous situations. Even thought the characters were looking out for themselves, their actions had greater impact as they faced a battle that would ultimately affect every pirate in the world. There was action in several scenes but there were also times when other things were dealt with that didn’t involve any action. During those times, the pace did slow down a bit, but it was never so much that I became bored by what was going on. I was very interested in everything that was going on. Things that weren’t fully explained in the second movie were addressed in this one and explanations were provided for several things. I felt that things were concluded well while also leaving open the possibility for another movie. I really liked the fact that several little things ended up connecting back to the first movie.
Most of the main characters ended up in at least one fight or battle during the course of the movie. There were several smaller fights before a huge impressive battle involving ships late in the movie. Some people could be disappointed that there weren’t more fights and battles. I liked that this wasn’t just a mindless action movie with nonstop fighting. The fight and battle scenes were well very well done. Those scenes did add violence to the movie. I think it was probably more violent than the second movie. There were a couple of things that while not exactly violent were still rather disturbing. The movie earned the PG-13 rating with the fighting and I think it is too violent for young children.
Special effects were used throughout Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for several different things. Davey Jones, The Flying Dutchman, and his cursed crew looked just as good as they did in the last movie. Their appearance made me believe it was possible for men to be turning into some sort of sea creatures or even becoming part of the ship. Special effects were also used for shots during the trip to find Jack as well as during the battle late in the movie. That battle was very impressive and the effects worked wonderfully to make things look real. Some very beautiful locations were featured that worked perfectly with what was going on. There were some absolutely amazing visuals created for this movie.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End really wasn’t what I would consider a comedy. However, there were several things done to add humor and lighten the mood throughout the movie. I think this movie made me laugh more than some that are supposed to be comedies. Once again, Captain Jack said and did many things that I thought were funny. Ragetti and Pintel also added a decent amount of humor with their antics. Other characters, including Captain Barbossa, also said or did humorous things.
Hans Zimmer created the score like he did for the first two movies. The music blended in perfectly with what was going on throughout the movie and wasn’t distracting in anyway. A few different characters sang some of a pirate song. I’m not sure if all the characters that sang were singing the same song, or if a couple of different pirate songs were used. Some of the lines did sound like the pirate song Elizabeth sang at the beginning of the first movie. I think most of the music was original for this movie, though some of the pieces did sound like pieces that had been used in the previous movies.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End featured many returning characters as well as several new ones. Most of the new characters were the other pirates who became involved in the fight against Beckett and Jones, and they really didn’t receive any development. That didn’t bother me since those characters weren’t in as much of the movie. I wouldn’t have liked it if the characters that had already been established got shoved aside for new characters to have the biggest parts in the movie. Captain Sao Feng, a pirate captain from Singapore, was probably the most developed of the new characters and he received very little.
Captain Jack Sparrow continued to be my favorite character in the movie. Jack was really my favorite thing in the movie. There’s just something about him and the way that Johnny Depp portrayed the character that I love. He had a very unique entrance in this movie that followed the memorable entrances he made in the first two movies. Jack did consider some other characters his friends, but it primary concern was looking out for himself. He still had his stumbling stagger of a walk that made him look like he was at least half plastered and ready to fall flat on his face at any minute. Many people underestimated Jack and didn’t realize he was as smart and devious as he really was. Johnny Depp was brilliant in the part and I can’t imagine anyone else in the part. I love Depp as Captain Jack and would be thrilled if the character returned in another movie. Since the first movie came out, it was reported more than once that Depp used Keith Richards as part of his inspiration for creating Jack. In this movie, Richards turned up briefly as the pirate Captain Teague.
There was tension between Will and Elizabeth, with both of them keeping some things from the other. That did make their relationship even more complicated. Will seemed more determined to get certain things accomplished and he seemed more confident as well. Orlando Bloom handled the part well though he did seem to be over doing it slightly in some scenes. Elizabeth was struggling to deal with a decision she’d made in the last movie. She was always an independent woman, and she became even more so in this movie. She didn’t sit around and wait to be rescued. She jumped right into the fight herself. I did feel like she redeemed herself and I ended up liking her more again. Kiera Knightly was fine in the part. Jonathan Pryce had very little to do as Elizabeth’s father Governor Swann. Norrington seemed to be unhappy with the consequences of a previous action.
Captain Barbossa was once again in most of the movie after being missing in the second movie. He’d had issues with Jack in the past, but he was willing to go bring him back. Barbossa had his own reasons for that and he continued to be devious. Jeffrey Rush was perfect in the part. Lord Cutler Beckett was continuing with his plan to wipe out all piracy by whatever means necessary. He was very sneaky and underhanded and resorted to horrible things to get what he wanted. Tom Hollander was good in the part. I just didn’t like the character.
Davey Jones and his crew returned, though their part in the movie was smaller than it had been in the last movie. Some more was shared about him, how he came to be the captain of The Flying Dutchman, and why he was transformed into a sea creature. Bill Nighy continued to do well with the part. Bootstrap Bill was also back in a much smaller part. He had continued to transform and was more of a sea creature than he’d been in the last movie. Stellan Skarsgard was good in the scenes he had. Naomie Harris was around as Tia Dalma, helping to find Jack. I think she was around a bit more in this movie. I did like that more was shared about Tia.
Main Cast
Lee Arenberg - Pintel David Bailie - Cotton Orlando Bloom - Will Turner Mackenzie Crook - Ragetti Jack Davenport - Norrington Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow Chow Yun-Fat - Captain Sao Feng Naomie Harris - Tia Dalma Tom Hollander - Lord Cutler Beckett Kiera Knightly - Elizabeth Swann Kevin McNally - Gibbs Bill Nighy - Davy Jones Jonathon Pryce - Governor Swann Keith Richards - Captain Teague Jeffrey Rush - Captain Barbossa Stellan Skarsgard - Bootstrap Bill
Gore Verbinski - Director
I felt that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was a very entertaining movie. It was long, but I didn’t feel it was boring since the time was used to tie up things from the second movie. It was definitely better than the second movie, though I don’t think it was quite as good as the first. Fans of the first two movies or Johnny Depp should give it a chance.
After the action of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST anti-hero Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp is trapped in the netherworld of Davy Jones's locker...More at Family Video
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