Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the third and last(?) of the wildly popular series starring Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom.

The plot is simple; the East India Trading Company has Davy Jones heart and is using The Flying Dutchman to end piracy. To fight this threat, the Nine Pirate Lords must convene and unleash an even more potent force. Unfortunantly, Captain Jack Sparrow, one of the necessary nine, is in Davy Jones locker, having been eaten by the kraken. So they have to rescue him first.

Many die hard fans moan and bewail how the series has fallen; but if you take it on its own merits...it stands up quite nicely. The problem here is that the first POTC movie, Curse of the Black Pearl, was a Masterpiece.

The characters are colourful, dramatic, and larger than life. Will Turner is the dashing young hero, Elizabeth Swann his lady fair who is quite good at rescuing herself, Davy Jones is the grotesque heartless (literally) villain, Captain Barbosa, the untrustworthy schemer, and Captain Jack Sparrow, the Rogue with a heart of gold.

The world they live in is ours, but better. They are the Pirates of the Caribbean, not Honalai, but it is a world a bit better than ours, due to the presence of magic.

Magic is what the Flying Dutchman is all about. It is Davy Jones charge to safeguard those souls who die at sea. He is immortal, living 10 years at sea, and a single day ashore. Over the years, he has lost his humanity, becoming the repulsive, (and truly brilliant) monster we see. His crew, part of the ship, part of him, suffer a similar fate.

But it is a real world too, with real human obsessions, and real human weakness. Everyone is out for something, and are willing to go as far as they must to get it. And that is usually too far.

Jack was on quest to get Davy Jones heart, so he could get out of the pact he made, back in the second movie. Elizabeth was on a quest to save Will, and sacrificed Jack to do it.

Now, Elizabeth is on a quest to save Jack, Will is on a quest to save his father, Bootstrap Turner, and Barbosa is on a quest to conviene the pirate court to save all the Brotherhood of the Coast from the East India Trading company. Each and everyone of them has their own agenda, each and everyone keeps it secret, not trusting the others, even when they should, and everyone of them betrays someone in the furtherance of their plots.

At any rate, I think this fact accounts for the decrease popularity of the second and third movies; Will and Elizabeth are not the sweet innocent children of the first movie. In the course of their adventures they have learned suspicion, duplicity and deceit. They have grown up, and adults are not nearly so charming as kids.

Still, there is a magic in the swashbuckler, the hero who risks all, the heroine who grows out of the corsette that is her life to play the same game as the boys, and beat them at it. (Pirate King!)

And Johnny Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow; I can only imagine the meeting on Monday morning where the writers and producers are sitting around, discussing characters, and Johnny says, "I'm going to do this guy up like a gay Keith Richards."

And it WORKS! The man deserves an Oscar. Jack is the only character in the series that remains absolutely true. He says what he means, he does all he can to see everyone comes out okay, and he always keeps his word. Think about it, he always does what he says he will...and he never gets credit for it.

Walt Disney understood the power of the archtype and the magic of myth. His successors have mostly kept this secret alive. We respond so well to the Pirate cast because they are mythic. Jack is the trickster king, the golden hearted rogue. He is that part of us that longs to be free. That is the basis of his love affair with the Black Pearl; she is his freedom.

Davy Jones is the the heartless monster; the one who pays a terrible price for betraying love. I mean, they hit you over the head with this one, this ain't subtle.

I think as time wears on, all three movies will be better appreciated. There is a lot of good meaning hidden in this action flick.

Of course the production value is off the chart. The historical details are meticulous and consistant, the magical effects are mind boggling. Davy Jones is wicked! In both senses. That tentacled beard is one of the coolest things ever done, and the monster displays human emotion on that inhuman face. Seriously; flawless special effects. If I have any complaint, it might be that there is so much special effect, it overwhelms.

And the dialogue; it can be a little heavy handed, but the humour! Its dry, witty, sometimes a little bawdy, but never inappropriate, and I love how it carries through the story, even from one movie to the next.

And like all mythic tales, it comes to a mythic conclusion. The good guys win, of course. The bad guys die, spectacularly. And there is a price to pay for victory. Here's a hint, sit through the credits...there's a tidbit at the end, a little something sweet to finish off the feast.


AHOY, MATEYS!  High adventure on the High Seas
Brethren: Raised by Wolves.
Matelots: Raised by Wolves 
Treasure: Raised by Wolves
Wolves: Raised by Wolves
Ransom

Cutthroat Island
Swashbuckler
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
The Black Swan 
The Wake of the Red Witch 
The Sea Hawk

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8