Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Reviews
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Reviews
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa Orlando Bloom as Will Turner Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett Bill Nighy as Davy Jones Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma Jack Davenport as Captain Norrington Keith Richards as Captain Teague Jonathan Pryce as Governor Weatherby Swann Lee Arenberg as Pintel Mackenzie Crook as Ragetti Kevin McNally as Gibbs David Bailie as Cotton Stellan Skarsgård as 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner Martin Klebba as Marty
Special Features: Bloopers of the Caribbean Keith & The Captain: On Set with Johnny Depp and the Rock Legend Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom The Tale of Many Jacks Hoist the Colours Masters of Design Inside the Brethren Court The World of Chow Yun-Fat The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer Deleted Scenes Seamless Menus
Other Info: Widescreen (2.35:1) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Running Time: 169 Minutes
The Movie: All the things that were great about the first two "Pirates" films are still here. Johnny Depp still steals every scene as Captain Jack Sparrow. The creature special effects are still absolutely stunning and Davy Jones remains one of the most impressive CGI characters on the big screen. The sets and costumes look incredible, especially with the Chinese styles. And there's still a fun mix of humor, horror, and adventure. Fans of the "Pirates" series are definitely going to want to check it out.
As for something new, the cameo by Keith Richards is fun. His appearance is completely gratuitous and totally irrelevant to the plot, but it is quite amusing to see him teamed with Depp ever so briefly.
"Pirates 3" then moves into its puzzling mode. There are double crosses, triple crosses, quadruple crosses, and more. Literally every character betrays every other character at one point or another (except for the monkey). It gets a tad absurd. I'm all for multipart plots, but this is almost as confusing as teenage girls repeatedly deciding they're friends one minute and enemies the next. There's little rhyme or reason to it.
After Elizabeth, Will, and Captain Barbossa save Captain Jack Sparrow from the the land of the dead, they must face their foes, Davy Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett. Beckett, now with control of Jones' heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng, to gathering. The Pirate Lords want to release the goddess Calypso, Davy Jones's damned lover, from the trap they sent her to out of fear, in which the Pirate Lords must combine the 9 pieces that bound her by ritual to undo it and release her in hopes that she will help them fight. With this, all pirates will stand together and will make their final stand for freedom against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company. Written by J. Curcio
Elizabeth, Will and the crew of the Pearl sail off the edge of the map (literally) with the help of mysterious Tia Dalma and the late Captain Barbossa who has been raised by the dead to save Captain Jack Sparrow . He has been condemned to the terrible fate of remaining in the void of Davey Jones' locker for eternity. But rescuing Jack isn't the real meat of this movie - Lord Cutler Beckett has control of the heart of Davey Jones, and with that he controls the sea. The nine pirate lords of the world must unite for a final stand against Beckett, Jones and the East India Trade company. Written by Anonymous
The Extras: Here's what you'll find among the bonus features:
Bloopers of the Caribbean - This is 5 minutes flubbed lines, failed stunts, and other fun. It's always a good addition to bonus features.
Keith & The Captain: On Set with Johnny Depp and the Rock Legend - This title is pretty self explanatory. In this 5 minute featurette we see Depp and Richards interviewed together. And believe it or not, Richards comes across as even more insane than his on screen persona as he mumbles, fiddles with Depp's costume, and does other bizarre things. It's amazing what a little editing can do.
Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom - This 20 minute featurette delves deeply into the making of the Maelstrom in the big finale. They show the massive sets, the blue screen challenges, and the programming hurdles they had to leap. This featurette covers a lot.
The Tale of Many Jacks - The scene with the multiple Jacks is shown in this 5 minute video. We see Jack's doubles, the camera tricks, and even the giant dreadlocks.
Hoist the Colours - This short video shows the development of the haunting theme from "Pirates 3."
Masters of Design - This is a series of five featurettes covering some of the designers and their specific tasks in the film. You'll find James Byrkit on Sao Feng's Map (6.5 minutes), Crash McCreery on the Cursed Crew (5.5 minutes), Rick Heinrichs on the Singapore set (5 minutes), Penny Rose on Teague's Costume (3.5 minutes), and Kris Peck on The Code Book (5.5 minutes). It's a fun, focused look at some of the main features of the film.
Inside the Brethren Court - This feature allows you to see short videos on each of the Pirate lords.
The World of Chow Yun-Fat - Chow Yun-Fat gets some loving in this 4 minute video.
The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer - If you like Zimmer you'll enjoy this 10.5 minute video discussing the themes and score from the film.
Deleted Scenes - There are only two deleted scenes. The first is "I Like Riddles" and it is a brief throw away line from Pintel and Ragetti. The second is a bit more substantial and it's called "Two Captains, One Ship". It shows Sparrow and Barbossa comically vying for control of the Black Pearl.
AT the end: Of the three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, "The Curse of the Black Pearl" was the best, "Dead Man's Chest" is second, and "At Word's End" is a distant third. Still, it's well worth checking out.
