Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

I liked this movie but I really wanted to like it more. About a third of the way through Geoffrey Rush's character gives a speech about how there is too much debauchery and conniving on the high seas now, he is basically explaining my complaints about the first third of the movie. We are witness to some wonderful visual effects in these segments (the entire movie looks great and the effects are really top notch) but there are so many twists and turns it's sometimes difficult to keep up with what is happening. The main characters spend very little time together so instead of this film feeling like an adventure, it feels almost like a period piece. Not to mention that this first third contains very little action, it just seems to drag on and on and on.

The filmmakers have never employed the less is more approach in these films and they completely ignore it here. This movie is long and adds a lot of new characters that we have to spend time with. There are too many cooks in the kitchen, or pirates on the ship as the case may be.

The best part about the previous two films has been Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow, that is true here too. Depp is given one of the best introductory scenes in recent memory. He seems to embrace the fact that he is a pirate and doesn't take himself too seriously. The same can be said for most of the other pirates too, especially the aforementioned Rush. Without their performances this film would fall flat. This is also one one of the other problems with the film, at times it seems like Jack Sparrow is little more than a bystander in his own movie.

Unfortunately the same can not be said for Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom. These two take themselves so seriously you wonder if they think they are in a different movie. Knightly actually seems to have more screen time than any of the other stars and even has to give the big emotional speech before battle to pump up all the troops. Knightly may be a good actress, but a tough girl she is not. Bloom is actually in the movie very little and somewhat redeems himself by the films end.

That being said, the movie does tie up the loose ends nicely and their are some twists in the final third that pay off nicely. If you have seen the other two see this one, if you haven't, I leave you to make that decision.