Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (Verbinski, 2007) - 5/10
One word that has been used a lot to describe At World's End is "convoluted". After finally seeing it, I can say that a more perfect word could not have been chosen. What in the hell was that mess? What was it even about? Amidst the neverending double-crossing and backstabbing, and the addition of a whole host of new, utterly pointless characters, telling a structured and coherent story was cast overboard. There is a certain line in the movie which totally sums up the movie itself, when a soldier asks "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes?" of Jack Sparrow. Indeed, I was left wondering that same question of Verbinski and Co. myself. It seems as if they sat around a table for a hour or two, came up with as many random ideas as they could (Calypso, pirate brethren, "hey, lets cast Chow Yun Fat and Keith Richards!"), and formed a patchwork screenplay around them. Perhaps if any mention or build-up to these events and appearances had been made in the previous films, things would sit better. The movie, like its predecessors, runs woefully long. As with its prequels, a solid 30-50 minutes could have been chopped, without losing anything. In fact, a much tighter, focused movie could have been arrived at. Alas, there were still a few redeeming factors about the movie. Hans Zimmer delivers another totally over-the-top, bombastic score, which actually suits the material perfectly. The special effects are the best ever seen as of this very moment, and the movie is great eye candy at many points. There are also several rather incredible action scenes, namely the amazing final battle, set in a giant whirlpool. Finally, Keira Knightley looked absolutely smokin'.
Bloated, mediocre finale to an overrated, but decent trilogy.
