Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End (spoilers)

[Distracting]

So having gone to a 9 PM (central) showing of Pirates 3 at the local movie theater, I suddenly felt the need to type up a short review. This will certainly contain spoilers.

I walked into the movie theater with a lack of a grin on my face because I'm cool like that. Five minutes before the movie starts, I arrived, talked a little with some co-workers of mine, got some Mountain Dew, and found a good seat. That was my first mistake as I won't sleep for another hour.

The movie starts in Singapore (that is, after some most likely unimportant plot driving device) where information is trying to be gotten. That's all well and good. Then a fight breaks out. Things happen, deals an allies are made and broken, other fights break out, there's a lot of crabs, a licking of one of said crabs, and more love stories than you can poke with a stick.

Oh yes, have I mentioned the voodoo, excellent villains, and, suffice to say, a non whimsical Jack Sparrow? Not to say this was a bad movie, but I came in with high hopes, wasn't impressed, and many strings weren't tied (eaten by the Kraken and ends up in Utah, with ship perfectly unsmashed ftw?) Oh yes, and one can't forget about the UN for pirates in some hidden location (did I mention nigh impenetrable) that countless people knew about except for the people trying to find it.

Aside from the normal plotline angst, the acting was good, there was enough silliness and plot twists to keep me from moving out of my seat, and it was gilled with enough action to make a man go mad.

When it comes down to it, it wasn't a bad movie and with it being the final movie of the trilogy (it is, isn't it?), I set my hopes far too high. I'd give this an 8.5 for being generally cool, but having a cheesy plot.


Sorry if this sucks. It's late and I don't really write many movie reviews. If I repeated too many things or it sounded choppy, hit me hard...with a thoughtful comment.

[Cvstos]

AFAIK, Disney has hopes of a Pirates 4, with the idea of shooting in 2009.  So if there is going to be another one, it'll be a few years.  The writer hasn't completely ruled it out, and Depp has said he'd love to reprise the role.

Personally, I loved the movie.  The final scene rated a 9.8 on my "ridiculous-action-scene-o-meter". 

I say bring on the next Pirates Trilogy! 

[King Of Hearts]

I just read some stuff at 4chan...

so Liz and Will are WHAT now!?

[Xuzaf D]

I didn't even enjoy the first pirate movie. I'm sure I'll just end up watching this one in the same way I did the last two.

"We can watch Pirates or the Owen Wilson movie."

[Zedd]

Hope it will be good for me

[Darkmoon]

I didn't even enjoy the first pirate movie. I'm sure I'll just end up watching this one in the same way I did the last two.

"We can watch Pirates or the Owen Wilson movie."

Is VInce Vaugh in the flick with Owen Wilson, cause those two together win.

[Alondro]

I predict "Pirates" will become Disney's "Land Before Time".   

[GabrielsThoughts]

I don't know, but if you watch the movie prepare to see an extreme close up of Captain Jacks nose. Why anyone would like to see a 30 foot close up of a mans nose and its boogers is beyond me...

Of course we're talking the same people who made jack seem witty with sayings like "you smell funny" and taunts like "I've got a jar of dirt, I've got a jar of dir hurt , an you'll never guess whats inside of it.

[Zina]

So after having just seen the movie(and dragged my roommate along, kicking and screaming), I can say I enjoyed it. I did want to kill Will and Elizabeth multiple times throughout the movie, and there was a guy in the theater that kept clapping at the most awkward of times. Davey Jones didn't seem nearly as threatening as he did in the last movie, and hurr, Calypso, way to NOT do anything. I was all ready for some massive carnage and boat smashing, considering how pissed she was. But all she did was make a big whirlpool. Well, hey.
Also, if I was on the Black Pearl I'd be pissed at the other ships for not doing anything while I was fighting The Flying Dutchman, or whatever. Seriously. Thanks a lot, guys. =|

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was what the last two movies were. Entertaining. Amazing plot? Not really. Memorable scenes? Eh. Good Cinematography? Sure. Fun movie, worth seeing in theaters, but I dunno if I'll bother to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

But I do hope they stop at this one. Enough's enough. 

[Xuzaf D]

I didn't even enjoy the first pirate movie. I'm sure I'll just end up watching this one in the same way I did the last two.

"We can watch Pirates or the Owen Wilson movie."

Is VInce Vaugh in the flick with Owen Wilson, cause those two together win.

No.

[RJ]

Okay, I went to see it last night. It took about half an hour to get a ticket since nobody was quite sure where the line ended, and which line was for the ticket holders and ticket buyers. *grumble*

I enjoyed the movie... kinda. The cinematography was brilliant, as were the special effects and special guest appearance by Keith Richards, but overall the plot left a lot to be desired. As for the characters:

Elizabeth reminded me of some kind of pompous Pirate-Hermione; my suspicions that Will was dropped on his head as a baby got another 10 points; Davey Jones really got turned into a spineless sea creature; Chow Yun Fat's character wasn't nearly as awesome as I hoped he'd be; Jack the Monkey was the best thing next to the actual Jack, with the comedy duo a close third; Barbosa was kinda cool with all the pirate talk; and Jack going mad was hilarious, though maybe a little over the top.

As for the whole Calypso thing- what the hell? She got big, turned into a pile of crabs and made it rain a little. Come on, there was no need for a whirlpool. It still would have been just as action packed without it. Why didn't they do a giant waterspout instead? That would have been a thousand times better!

And what was with all the alliances and betrayal? In the end I was so confused as to who was backstabbing who that I just gave up on trying to keep up.

In the end, I think that my favourite bit of all would have had to have been Barbosa mother-talking to Jack the Monkey. o_o

[Xuzaf D]

Wow... it sounds retarded. I'm just thinking about all the useless characters that returned for the second movie. Obviously, nobody ever dies in the Caribbean, 'cause that would mean having to write in a totally new group of characters that they can't think up because it was hard enough milking a movie out of the theme park ride the first time. Expect everybody to be back for Pirates 4 to fight steam powered robots or dragons or something.

... yeah, I know half of you want to see those robots, you know it would be cool.

[nikename2]

Heh, Robot Pirate Island.

I saw the movie last night, the line wasn't that bad, the hard part was just finding a theater not sold out. I'd say for the movie itself it was on par with the other movies, not really much more except the LoTR timing, with a 3+ hour long movie and all. The real stars in the movie though I think were Barbosa, Jack(because he FINALLY goes insane), and the monkey. Barbosa because he's the only guy there sounding and acting like a true pirate. Jack because we finally see whats going through his head and whats potentially his own personal hell, himself. And the monkey because yeah, they shot a undead monkey out of a cannon. 3's enough though, even though they left a plot opening for a potential 4th movie they really should just stop here.

[RJ]

It's a shame they left it so ambiguous with the Fountain of Youth thing and that close-up shot of that ship on the map.

[Metal Juggernaut]

Ah man,I saw it friday night and it was hilarious.

"You're mad!"

"Good heavens,if I wasn't this would probaly never work."

[Jim Halisstrad]

Man, the sword fighting in this movie was top notch.  it's a shame about Callisto having crabs though

[KarlOmega1]

I thought the movie overall was pretty good...

Please don't hurt me...

[Eibborn]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought that Calypso was all sorts of lame considering the buildup. I thought that Will and Elizabeth's relationship was quite well done, as each wanted the other safe and on their side, but wouldn't tell the other what they were doing. It's something that happens to real people, on a lesser scale. Obviously.

I didn't mind the whole zillion alliances and betrayals at all, because that sort of thing is just awesome in a can.

This movie was much much much muuuch better than the second, although I think the first is still the best. It'd be nice if they'd just stop here, though. Too much of a good thing.

[Gryphon]

Oops. Guess my review is a little late to the party. Ah well. Since I wrote it up last week but never got the chance to post it till now...

Since the last person didn't like a small review of the plot... Lets try another tactic.

When last we met the East India Trading Company had just taken possession of
the heart of Davy Jones himself. To put it bluntly enough the EITC uses this
superweapon to practically take over the world in a despotic manner. First
order of business to prove they are the bad guys? Everyone who is a pirate,
everyone who has helped a pirate and everyone who knows a pirate is hanged.
Cue the first bizarre unexplained scene where people sing on the way to the
gallows and the bad guys act all happy when it finally happened. Like
they were going to execute people until they heard some good hanging
music.

Meanwhile most of the pirate crew, sans Jack Sparrow of course, find
themselves running to Singapore trying to get a chart, a ship and a crew that will
get them to Davy Jones Locker to rescue Jack Sparrow. No folks he's not
dead. Just captured and locked away. If he was dead he could get resurrected
like Barbarossa. Now Chow Yun Fat has the chart and he really doesn't want
to give it up. Especially since someone bungled a stealing attempt. Again to
prove that the EITC has pretty much taken over the world somehow they
managed to bring in a battalion of English soldiers in to kill pirates.

On the run the entire party plus Chow Yun Fat sail off to get Jack Sparrow.
Meanwhile Jack Sparrow has gone off the deep end and has gone insane in the
middle of a salt desert. Enter missing piece of plot two as a horde of rock
crabs start carrying the Black Pearl off for no good reason. Luckily enough
for the crew after sailing off the edge of the world they managed to crash
land in the ideal position to meet Jack. Naturally Jack isn't interested in
teaming up with a band of people who have mutinied against him, tried to
kill him and be with the one person who actually killed him. However since
they have the only road map out of Davy Jones Locker...

Now here comes a piece of plot that has never before been mentioned in
either of the last two movies. The deal apparently comes out that long ago
Davy Jones was appointed the job of ferry for the dead by Calypso Goddess of
the Sea. However apparently Davy Jones stopped and dead people, like
Elizabeth Swanns dead dad, are now forced to swim for it or sail off in a
dingy.

Stuck in the sea of the dead with time running out Jack figures out the way
to get out of the locker and back into the real world. So they rock the boat
and tip the boat over... Right into the real world.

This next couple of scenes gets pretty weird as a number of double crossings
gets people separated. Afterwards though, Chow Yun Fat dies, Elizabeth is
made captain and the pirate lord of Singapore, Will has thrown in with the
EITC, Davy Jones knows Jack is back, and James Norrington is dead.

At the great pirate lord meeting we got three solutions to the great big
threat of the EITC. One faction wants to release Calypso and let her mighty
wrath nuke the fleet, One faction wants to hole up in the fortress and one
faction wants a end all to be all great big slugout fight with the EITC.
Things go nowhere fast until Jack gets Swann elected king of the pirates,
sorry Luffy, and she orders the fleet to go to war.

Just before the battle to come, the EITC and the pirates parley and discuss
terms. They trade Will for Jack and the pirates refuse to surrender.
Barbarossa manages to unlock a scene from attack of the fifty foot woman and
the scene is set for the duel of the century between the Black Pearl and the
Flying Dutchman. What? You were expecting a huge fight between the combined
naval forces of nine pirate lords and the vastly larger EITC navy? Ha! No.
We got a one on one slug fest in the middle of a whirlpool in the middle of
typhoon season.

Meanwhile Jack manages to abscond with the heart of Davy Jones and is
planning to stab it. For apparently whoever stabs the heart takes over as
captain of the Flying Dutchman and will live forever. First time I ever
heard of it. Now as if things aren't hectic enough with cannons firing, both
ships boarding each other and people are fighting for their lives somehow
Swann and Will manage to get married. Of course celebrity marriages tend not
to last long and Will is mortally wounded. Now stuck between immortality and
one dead Will, Jack places his broken sword into Will's hand and makes him
stab the heart.

I don't know why the Flying Dutchman crew cuts out Will's heart. Especially
since the plot said that Davy Jones did just fine with his heart in his
chest for ten years and only placed it into the chest because Calypso
apparently abandoned him. Anyway Will is now captain and its time to make
the head bad guy look like he's from Unbreakable in the most ludicrous ship
destruction scene since ever. The EITC fleet flees for the horizon and we
miss out on what would probably have been the most kick ass massive battle
scene ever.

The ending is what I like to call everyone gets to be unhappy. Will is stuck
ferrying the dead forever. Swann can only see her husband once every ten
years. Barbarossa stole the Black Pearl away from Jack. Jack stole
Barbarossa's map. Calypso isn't mentioned again. Gibbs is stuck in Tortuga
albeit with two fine looking lasses. Bootstrap bill is stuck on the Flying
Dutchman under order of his son. "Biggs and Wedge" are in the middle of
pirate world after jumping ship from the EITC. Pirates and sailors alike
everywhere now have to deal with a pissed off Sea Goddess. Oh and Will and
Swann's kid has a death god for a dad. That's pretty much it.

Things I find odd.
The EITC force Davy Jones to kill his pet Kraken. WHY!!!? One of the most
powerful superweapons available and they kill it off!
Why cut out Will's heart? Davy Jones only did it to spite Calypso anyway.
We have the greatest fleets in the world staring at each other. Only two ships fought and
only one ship got nuked.
You know for all of the rocky moments between Will and Swann I really didn't
think they loved each other that much. But guess what? They apparently loved
each other enough to get married and have a kid!

My opinion?
They did not need the sixty minutes of sailing around in the middle of the
movie. I don't care if it contains the plot. It's too complicated anyway!
All in all its a good movie. It could have been great if only they shortened
it down a bit. Might have helped if it didn't feel like they didn't make
stuff up to thicken the plot up in the first place! Three hours is long
enough people!

That said... When they make Kingdom Hearts three they are so going to have to make Davy
Jones a Heartless.

[Netrogo]

Supah Tranzformin Dalmunda, just curious what are some films YOU like anyways?


As for the film. I loved it. It didn't hinge the whole thing on the action, leaving the ending to be that much sweeter. Jack continued to be full of surprises that most people wouldn't expect. The cinematography was amazing, the DoP for this film deserves a freaking award. Enh too early in the morning, I'll write a proper review later.

Just curious though, how many people saw the last scene at the end of the credits? Y'know the one that basically renders the making of a forth film involving Will or Elizabeth null.

[Gryphon]

I pretty much thought that being separated for ten years at a time pretty much destroys the chance of another movie in the first place. A kid? Doubly so.

[King Of Hearts]

A sequel's all too possible... all they need is to drop any plot point to the turners [heck they can even do it if they are imaginative with Will being techincally on every sea] and focus on Barbossa and Jack with new supporting characters.

One thing I disliked about the movie...

The "climatic" battle.

Sure there were guns, and maelstroms, and killings... but after all that has been said and done... you see the British Armada and the Pirate fleet untouched.

Why didnt the Endevour attack the Pearl and the dutchman? Their guns were at the ready. all it needed was the order and even if given while the bombardment has begun, the Pearl at the least could have beem sunk. Its feels like bad millitary discipline. The British Armada could have taken out all those pirates in one fell swoop in that encounter... Am I expected to believe that they just... decided NOT to fight? When the Endevour was sunk, there ought to be a surviving heirarchy to continue what operation was begun.

[GabrielsThoughts]

I know what you mean, the prime villain was a weenie "Oh no the Duchman is no longer under my command I forgot how to do anything but make a poop in my pants. Oh well time to commit suicide, Maybe  I can take everyone with me!"

of course through out the movie they make the pirates out to be noble, valiant, cunning backstabber's, and I felt they threw in that geisha girl to make it  more believable that Ms. Swan could be the pirate queen/king.   

[Miaka]

Unless something goes wrong, there will be a sequel.
they're not just gonna leave it at that.

I liked it, though. >>

*just got back from it*

[Xuzaf D]

Supah Tranzformin Dalmunda, just curious what are some films YOU like anyways?

Brazil, The Dark Crystal, The Green Mile, In the Mouth of Madness, Kung Fu Hustle, Men of Honor, Soylent Green, Total Recall, Transformers: The Movie, and Unbreakable.

..I had to check my netflix listings just to recall them...

[Netrogo]

Oh I think they're going to continue it, I just don't think Will or Elizabeth are going to be in the next one. I think they're going to try to get away form the whole 'I wuv you, no I wuv you' garbage and back to the good old pirate vs pirate stuff we WANT!

[Xuzaf D]

...and maybe some robots or dinosaurs or aliens or Nazis to fight along the way...

Hell, maybe Nazis will get alien technology that they use to make robot dinosaurs with giant super-scope dealies for arms. It's totally gonna happen...

[Netrogo]

The hell?

[Xuzaf D]

That's what I said when I saw the octopus pirate. With that said, I can assume I'm on the right track.

[Netrogo]

Y'mean Davy Jones? He's actually a pretty accurate representation of the kind of mythical creatures you'd run into in a time and world such as that. Everything else you were saying sounds rediculous.