and stuff is constantly happening. Bizarre, awesome shit happens to our heroes and god bless the film-makers for it. This is summer spectacular at its finest.

    ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ left us hanging with a severe case of blue balls when it stormed in off the high seas last summer and claimed its short lived box office domination. So many new threads were introduced that at times, things lost their way and in the end, very little was resolved. Damn middle films! ‘At World’s End’ picks up several months later and all is not well on the seven seas. Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), the quadrupudian nemesis, is under the command of Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and the East India Trading Company and together, they are wiping out everyone who ever sailed under a pirate banner in a bid to claim domination of the seas. To that end, our surviving heroes leave for Singapore to call a meeting of the pirate lords of the world in a hope to stop the Company from destroying everything. And the plucky hero of it all, Captain Jack Sparrow (the indomitable Johnny Depp) is stuck in the Locker for an eternity of punishment and he needs rescuing, dammit!

    Like its predecessor, there’s a lot to take in. Add to that a new story thread about the sea goddess Calypso and we have quite a full plate on our hands as viewers. Though the longest of the films to date, it never drags like parts of ‘DMC’, and while the majority of the action is saved for the final hour, the film is always exciting. The trip to the Locker, which occupies the first third of the film, is like stepping into a dream world, where the oceans literally fall off the edge of the world, ships move across bleach deserts and where Jack Sparrows reign supreme. The women in the audience swooned. One Jack Sparrow is great, but a dozen of them? I’m in heaven! Keeping with the film’s mantra, more is ALWAYS better. For once, let’s just agree with them and be swept up in the adventure.

instead of going for the glory himself.

 

    The newest introduction is Sao Feng (Chow Yun Fat), a Singapore pirate who is sadly underused. He seems present more for plot contrivance and to add to the many, many double-crosses that occur through the nearly three hour running time. It’s a shame Verbinski could not find more for Feng to do, because his character, from looks alone, was endlessly fascinating. But he does what he needs to do, then departs.

    Of special note, Davy Jones, his character is fleshed out significantly and given a little hubris, a little angst and much more sorrow. He’s a person who screwed up and did the wrong thing and has had to live with it for ages now. Unfortunately, he lacks his Kraken this time around (sob), but he still puts on an intimidating show, even if he is the lapdog of Beckett, who is a far more interesting villain than I had originally given him credit for.

    The Pirates films are great because yes, there are good guys and bad guys, but a character can be either of those at any given time. Barbossa was the villain in the first film and now he’s helping rescue Jack, but what else does he want? Beckett is not above striking a deal with Sparrow in exchange for Jack’s freedom. No one is entirely good, nor is anyone really evil. Writers Elliot and Rossio realize that hey, people are generally out for themselves and its refreshing to see that instead of the old “let’s do it for the boss” swagger. When all hope is lost, the grand speeches come out (do we need another hot, strong woman telling us about freedom again this year?) that feels a little out of place amongst the rabble. There is no honor among thieves, after all.

    But all that character crap and storytelling be damned. The majority of the audience is there for the special effects. The main one being Keira Knightley kicking a ton of ass. But the other, and some might say, less important is well, everything else. The seamless digital wizardry returns and while the movie holds all of its aces for the last battle, it is well worth the wait. Giant vortexes, cannons ablasting, buckles being swashed, giant god ladies and the birth of a new character and a very heroic death for a character you were glad to see go. It is certainly the most impressive digital display of awesomeness I have seen in a while and lord knows, my share of pirate battles is sorely, sorely depleted.

    The ending moments and subsequent after the credits scene set up the further adventures of our favorite characters but still successfully puts the whole bloody affair that began in ‘Curse’ to rest. It’s a movie that should be worse than it is, but god bless everyone involved, it just works. Breezy, fun, a little dark but always exciting, I’m going to pun: this is one world you don’t want to end. Oh! Yes, I went there.

   The characters find themselves on better ground this time. The tumultuous relationship is back and both are too hardened and bitter from the other that it takes the entire movie for them to realize they still love each other. Each has their own motivation for doing things and unlike last time, they never lose themselves to plot-points. Will even becomes a bit of a badass, and then his ultimate destiny is revealed and he becomes uber-badass numero uno! I always liked Will, but he was always the pretty boy do-gooder, so its nice to see him end up a little darker than before. Captain Jack, having returned from damnation itself, is a little more subdued but the writer’s give Depp plenty of moments to swagger and play with

the character on screen. Best of all, Jack does the right thing in the end and saves his friends (albeit in a very weird way)