film: review

> PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (2007)
Just making it up as they go…

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

Directed by: Gore Verbinski

Written by: Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, and others

Starring: Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and more

Genre: Action/Adventure

Our Rating: 7/10

After a half hour or so into Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End I realized that everyone was just making things up as they went along. Clearly there was no completed script and no map drawn once the cameras starting rolling on Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End (which were shot back-to-back). Just a big, fat wink to the audience and maybe Jack Sparrow’s magical compass pointing at the thing the filmmakers wanted most: gold.

The fact that ultimately this trilogy is just action pieces connected by threads of ideas that make little or no sense really shouldn’t bother me so much. Regardless of my frustrations I definitely didn’t dislike this movie. I enjoy watching these characters, love the humor, and the big effects scenes and was especially entertained by Sparrow’s trippy hallucinations on the desert island. But I can’t help but be bothered that I’ve watched nearly 8 hours of a pirate trilogy where half of it can best be described as “excess”. And to top everything off they can’t even finish the trilogy off proper. Some closure would have been nice, guys.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theatres on Peach Street in Erie, PA. Click for showtimes.

related links:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - official site

MPAA rating: PG-13
for intense sequences of action /adventure violence and some frightening images

length: 1 hr., 53 min.