Pirates, plot devices and blathering - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Reviews

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is a three hour film that repeatedly loses focus, and seems spun out of a fantastic final fight sequence rather than composed as an even, balanced film. Again, the "Pirates" franchise can't seem to decide whether it wants to stick within its canon of believability or, like Captain Jack Sparrow, "make things up as they go along," as many things happen in this film exclusively for the plot to progress. Why is the East Indian Ink company not the least bit phased by the mere prospect of a real-life Davy Jones, complete with writhing tentacles? Why on sea would Davy Jones' menacing crew be caught dead (excuse the puns) in beautiful, clear sky weather? Mixing such fantastically drawn characters as Jones and his crew with such a benign and peaceful setting is poor direction, but fortunately, Verbinski doesn't err on this nearly as much as he did with Dead Man's Chest. As for Elizabeth and Will Turner's relationship- there's no energy, there's no spark, and frankly, I think the whole blimy lot of us would find Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow more compelling than the contrived co-existence the supposed star-crossed lovers share. Their "love story" slows the film down, and the attempt to parallel their love between Davy Jones' and Calypso is a stretch Mr. Fantastic wouldn't buy. What the film lacks in plausibility (even in the CGI-created suspended disbelief world), it makes for with remarkably beautiful scenes. Geoffrey Rush is dynamic as Barbosa, and great attention and creativity was given to one character's spectacular exit. The "Pirates" franchise has probably exceeded its own expectations, and is now charged with generating storylines that follow a seemingly improvised "contract" of rules/understanding with its viewers. If a fourth film does indeed happen, reeling in the plot would pay great dividends, as currently the storyline is dragging the Black Pearl down, down...