Yo ho ho, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” opens today, with everyone’s favorite strungout pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow, leading an all-star cast through mis-adventures on the high seas.
After Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) and his ship the Black Pearl are taken down to Davy Jones’ locker by the Kraken at the end of the second movie in the series, “Dead Man’s Chest,” his friends are out to bring him back. Sparrow’s former enemy Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) leads Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) to Singapore to find the navigational charts that will take them to the end of the world where Jack’s soul rests.
Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) of China is reluctant to give up the charts, but a sudden interruption in his hideout by Britain’s East India Trading Company and a quick deal struck with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) set the crew up for a trip to the netherworld.
Sparrow is freed, but Swann and Barbossa reveal that their intentions for freeing him were more than just an act of friendship.
They want him to unite with the other pirate captains to ready themselves for a final showdown with the British Navy and the East India Trading Company.
If you liked the other two movies, there’s no doubt this one will satisfy you. Advertisements promise that every secret and every destiny will be revealed, which is true, if you don’t count the new ones they introduce in this film.
It’s fantastically over the top without taking itself too seriously. It delivers all the outlandish fairy-tale plots and sword fights the first two movies did, and just when anything gets too serious a character knocks the tempo back into the realm of playtime. As a matter of fact, this movie is probably best enjoyed if you come dressed as a pirate and learn a few swashbuckling melodies to sing before you enter the theater. The cast clearly had a good time making the film, and it’s best if the viewer just joins in.
My only complaints are that there were some holes in the plot (surprise, surprise) and a few overindulgent moments accompanied by Keira Knightley’s soft attempt at portraying a tough and rugged pirate leader.
The movie does leave room for a fourth installment, but at the same time it ties up enough loose ends (and lasts long enough) to make moviegoers feel as though the billion-dollar-making series were adequately put to an end. Of course, Hollywood is rife with moneymakers of Kraken proportions, so don’t be surprised if we soon hear talk of another installment.
