Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 48 minutes
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring:
Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow
Orland Bloom - Will Turner
Keira Knightley - Elizabeth Swann
Bill Nighy - Davy Jones
Stellan Skarsgård - "Bootstrap" Bill Turner
Chow Yun-Fat - Captain Sao Feng
Geoffrey Rush - Barbosa
Mackenzie Crook - Ragetti
Lee Arenberg - Pintel
Kevin McNally - Mr. Gibbs
Tom Hollander - Lord Cutler Beckett
Say what you will about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Say the mythology is muddled. Say that it’s too long or too wild. Say it’s absolutely insane. Say what you will because this film does not care and I find that quite refreshing in a big summer blockbuster. Hell, when was the last time you saw a film lead with innocent people getting hanged by the dozens, among them a boy singing a tragic last song?
But the darkness is where this story lives and that’s the natural progression of last summer’s Dead Man’s Chest. Jack Sparrow has been sent to Davy Jones’ Locker, the East India Trading Co. now owns Jones because they have his heart, and Will and Elizabeth have nothing but secrets between them. But now it’s time for a final battle, and I won’t even attempt to describe all the intrigue and multiple storylines because it’s no fun to devote two pages just to trying to follow the plot. And while it’s at times convoluted, the story is certainly never dull. These are characters worth caring about and they have evolved wonderfully over the course of three films. Even Captain Jack, the most steadfast among the main protagonists grows a bit.
What I find so great about At World’s End is its confidence. This is a very kitchen-sink story. It’s an absolutely insane tale but told with such confidence and bravado that much like Capt. Sparrow, we can’t help but be wooed by its charm, even if that charm exists somewhere between brilliance and madness (“it’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide,”). The film doesn’t care what you think. It wants to be as madcap as possible and do it with an enormous special effects budget and captivating performances from everyone involved. And it may not work for everyone but it certainly worked for me. It worked for me because I was on the edge of my seat as the imagination of the set pieces poured off the screen and I had no idea what would happen to these characters.
This is probably one of my most selfish reviews. I’m promoting a film that doesn’t care about you and this review is all about why it works for me as opposed to working for the masses. I can say with some confidence that if you didn’t like Dead Man’s Chest, you probably won’t go for an even crazier and longer go-around in At World’s End. But even if you did like Dead Man’s Chest, you can’t anticipate where this film will take you and how much fun you’ll have getting there. Of course, I’m just basing this on my own personal experience and anecdotal evidence, but with a film this insane, it’s hard to tap into the zeitgeist.
But all the naysayers can say what they will. I raise my bottle of rum to this big damn adventure. Drink up me hearties, yo ho.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
5.25.07
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