Techtite's DVD Reviews!

"A far more fitting finale (?) than most trilogies have received, and yet this 'end' of the story is still a little rough at its edges."

--from the review

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Pirates of the Caribbean:

At World's End

A Review by Techtite

Should I start at the beginning when reviewing this movie? Maybe not. While the majority of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a finely crafted film, the opening shot was a mistake. Call me a Disney movie purist if you must, but I really don't like a Disney movie beginning with the hanging of a child. Yes, I get the idea here. The big bad guy of this movie is so big and bad, he's hanging everyone associated with pirates, including the children. It's supposed to be a gritty start of the film, and it is, I suppose, and yet it's pretty unsettling to watch a Disney movie begin this way. No; the obligatory "scene after the final credits" (wait for it!) didn't make this opening scene any easier to watch. If anything it answered about as many questions as it adds.

So why begin a favorable review in this way? Because it makes a point. If someone hadn't tried to reinvent the wheel with "shocking" prologues and whatnot, this could've been a top notch review for a top notch sequel. In (almost) every other aspect, this sequel had what it took to be a great pirate movie. Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow. There's the adorable Keira Knightly as Elisabeth Swann. There's Lord of the Rings' Orlando Bloom as Will Turner. This trio is not unlike a three musketeers for a new age. They clearly have fun in their roles, and we have fun watching them. We don't have as much fun watching children hanged, though that's another story altogether.

The "Three Musketeers" comparison might sound peculiar to the agnostic Pirates viewer. After all; the prior movie concluded with one of the trio, Captain Jack Sparrow, swallowed by a giant squid. How could he be in this picture at all? Well, supposedly, death is permanent for some yet not so permanent for others. Don't ask me to explain it, because I don't get it either. Good or bad, people die in this movie, and the effect is sorely diminished, when the whole film began with the return of Jack Sparrow, who was dead. Ask not how he was able to return while everyone else who dies in this movie is (apparently) "really really dead." The way they revive Sparrow is about as believable as the way the third Star Trek movie revived Mister Spock. Which is to say: don't ask too many questions, and simply revel in the return of a great film character.

Fortunately, all Search for Spock comparisons stop at the end of the first reel. While the first part of this movie is not unlike "The Search for Sparrow," storylines that follow are what sell the sequel. There Will Turner's vow to defeat Davy Jones, to free his father from Jones' ghostly crew. There is Sparrow, who is planning to defeat Davy Jones himself, in order to gain Jones' immortality, and sail the seven seas forevermore. There is the fair Miss Swann, who is still wrestling with that conflicting compass in the prior movie, which supposedly points to one's true desire, and when held by Miss Swann, kept wiggling back and forth between our two heroes. There is also the aforementioned Big Bad Guy, who is out to defeat all pirates, leading to the film's obligatory "big final battle."

It's a long story, to be sure (at just 12 minutes shy of three full hours), and yet it's never boring. In fact; some scenes are among my favorites in all three films of the trilogy. There is one scene in particular when Swann and Turner wish to be married in the thick of battle, before it might be too late. I won't spoil the how's and why's to them managing this, though it was perhaps my favorite (and perhaps, best choreographed) moment of the film. I liked the "meeting" of all the pirate leaders, and how it literally seemed like this was a meeting held by all pirates from all the corners of the world, and not simply a meeting held by a biker gang from Jersey. I also liked the now infamous cameo of Sparrow's dad, which for those few folk who don't already know who it is; I won't spoil for you here. Such scenes lead to a solid thumbs up, even if nitpicks demand that the rating isn't totally "perfect".

So why nitpick at all? Because this movie is such a raw gem, it's a shame it wasn't smoothened around its rough edges. While some scenes are great, other scenes were good, yet could've been perfect. Here's an example that spoils little, if anything, to the plot. Seedy pirates (yes, even seedier than most pirates!) demand that Miss Swann "prove" she is unarmed. They wind up leaving her with little more than the shirt she came in with. So here is Keira Knightly with her gorgeous legs and yet the cameraman centers all the action from the neck-up. This scene could have been to Pirates lore what Princess Leia's "gold bikini outfit" was to the Star Wars trilogy. It's hardly a bad scene; just not perfect. It's just one example of how some scenes were good, yet could have been great.

I'm equally conflicted when forced to not spoil the ending. All I can say is that there is indeed an ending to the movie, and it's admittedly far superior to the craptacular catastrophe of a trilogy "conclusion," that was Matrix Revolutions. Suffice to say: there is one character who does not get everything they richly deserve. The bad news is that fans of this character will demand another Pirate movie. The good news is that everyone else will want one too.

---Techtite

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