Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End Review

HIGHS

• Thankfully, Pirates 3 didn't suck. It builds on what was established in the first two films and comes through with a satisfying conclusion. After witnessing the abomination that was Spider-man 3, I guess I can't ask for much more than that.
• Geoffrey Rush is hands-down the greatest pirate in cinema history. He should be given an Oscar for this. To see him cackling maniacally as he steers his ship off the end of the world is a ridiculously badass thing to behold. Everyone talks about Capt. Jack, and of course I agree that the character is fun and memorable, but for my money Barbosa is the best thing about these films.
• We find out more on Davy Jones' back story, who was, with the absence of Barbosa, my favorite thing about Dead Man's Chest. And he's still sporting the most convincing CGI I've ever seen.
• Speaking of CGI, I think it's easy to become complacent with what you're seeing in a movie these days because we are so used to large-scale special effects shots, but the stuff that is put together in Pirates 3 is damn impressive. When you look at what goes down in the film's climax, with the inclusion of battling sea vessels, a giant maelstrom, sword fighting sea freaks galore, a looming fleet of British ships, and Jack Sparrow dueling it out with Davy Jones in the middle of all this- while keeping a coherent story flowing- it's really a very impressive feat. Jurassic Park was a long time ago and I think we often take for granted some of the amazing things effects artists are doing in movies today.
• In true pirate fashion, there's plenty of back-stabbing in this flick.
• One thing I criticized Dead Man's Chest for was the fact that it was significantly more kiddish and hokey than the first film. I'm happy to say that the final chapter falls somewhere between the other two on this subject. It's still pretty over-the-top at times, but it feels like a mostly grown-up affair.
• Let's not forget that this entire film franchise was based on a Disney theme park ride. That's an impressive accomplishment in and of itself.
• Less rum jokes.
  

LOWS

• I felt that they could have done a better job with the film's pacing. It's very talky at times. You know there's going to eventually be a final showdown between Pirates and Brits, it just takes a bit too long to get there. I didn't realize pirates were so indecisive.
• The sub-plot involving Calypso felt un-realized to me. I was expecting more to come of it.
  

Torrey's Opinion:
5- Strongly Recommended
4- Recommended
3- A Mixed Bag
2- Sub-par
1- Don't Bother

Random related fact: The final run time for At World's End came in at 2 hours, 48 minutes. This was whittled down from the film's first cut which weighed in at over 3 hours.