Does Depp's new pirate adventure measures up to the its predecessors?
Two words that would adequately describe Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End are “wholly unsatisfying.” Although I concede that I would probably have been disgruntled by any Pirates movie that didn't conclude with Johnny Depp and myself sailing off into the sunset together, the film hardly measured up to the its predecessors.
For a Disney movie, and in comparison to the other Pirates films, At World's End is oddly dark. Admittedly, there is hokey, kid-friendly humor spaced periodically throughout, but there are more cover-your-eyes-children moments than is entirely necessary. Men and woman, plus one small child, are publicly hanged, Keira Knightly is strip-searched, and two women are shot dead at point blank range. And that's only the first half hour. The vivid bloodshed and naughty undertones (and some overtones) continue to the very end. This ain't Uncle Walt's Disney.
Next up, the story itself. This plot is so confusing that I couldn't even try to formulate a synopsis. Part of this may have been due to the fact that At World's End was made at the same time as Pirates 2 (Dead Man's Chest), so the plot rehashing typical of most series is virtually nonexistent. If the audience hasn't screened Dead Man's Chest the night before, there's liable to be a bit of head scratching to comprehend all of At World's End's details. But the main cause of the confusion is that At World's End has too many teams. In most films, good and evil stand more or less diametrically opposed. In the Pirates films, there is a third, independent party, if you will. Jack Sparrow has always been in it for himself, bounding back and forth across the divide to whichever side best suits his purpose. In At World's End, however, everyone, even some previously minor characters, becomes a free agent and a major player. Not only that, but characters' goals perpetually shift so that at any given moment, unless you're keeping score, you might have trouble figuring out who's working with whom, against whom, and why.
It is the polygonal plot that also banishes applause-worthy performances to the boonies. Viewers should be on the lookout for special guest appearances, including Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng, Singapore's Pirate Lord and Keith Richards as Captain Teague, Keeper of the Pirate Code (an absurdly large and weighty tome). It's sad that we don't get to see more of Bill Nighy's baleful Davy Jones, and rather surprising how he's marginalized here in light of his gifted performance in Dead Man's Chest. Johnny Depp is, once again, utterly endearing as Captain Jack Sparrow. For some reason, in this final chapter, Jack seems to be in need of some anti-psychotic medication, but fans will happily climb aboard for the ride, no questions asked.
Although there are no main characters in this Pirates, Jack Sparrow doesn't steal the spotlight this time. Instead, I would say that award goes to Geoffrey Rush, for his Captain Barbosa. So dazzled was I by the triumphant acting in Dead Man's Chest, that I had forgotten what a riveting performance Rush gave in the original. I was delighted to see him revisit his role in At World's End. He dives in to this part with all his soul and his delight in bringing it to life is palpable from his every word and expression. Here is a man who was born with the heart of a pirate, imprisoned in the body of an actor.
If only At World's End's only problem was its gnarled storyline. Some of the lines that are meant to be jokes are either not delivered well (excluding my main man, JD) or just trite, and sequences of cutesy monkey business could have been left out altogether. Both of these elicited less than a chuckle from one as film-weathered as myself. But the rest of the mindless audience drones seemed to enjoy them, so I guess the efforts of screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio were at least mildly successful. The only reason to even mention Keira Knightly's Elizabeth Swann and Orlando Bloom's Will Turner in this review is to wonder at the perfectly good celluloid their scenes wasted. Will and Elizabeth function as just a few more plot points to be tossed into the already teeming story, since as main characters they are decidedly mediocre and their romantic involvement offers all the excitement of flat cola.
Despite the film's many flaws, however, At World's End has its own entertainment value. In addition to certain worthwhile performances, the action sequences are fantastically choreographed as usual, and the sets and visual effects are, while hardly exquisite, still worthy of mention. But in the end, there's not much that can be said to defend At World's End. It pains me to type it, but even Johnny Depp could not save it. The previous episodes set the bar so high that it is doomed, like so many other closing chapters, to fall short.
films, there is a third, independent party, if you will. Jack Sparrow has always been in it for himself, bounding back and forth across the divide to whichever side best suits his purpose. In At World's End, however, everyone, even some previously minor characters, becomes a free agent and a major player. Not only that, but characters' goals perpetually shift so that at any given moment, unless you're keeping score, you might have trouble figuring out who's working with whom, against whom, and why.
n At World's End. He dives in to this part with all his soul and his delight in bringing it to life is palpable from his every word and expression. Here is a man who was born with the heart of a pirate, imprisoned in the body of an actor.
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