Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) by Tony DeFrancisco

Welcome to our guest critic section. Each week we (hopefully) will feature a new guest critic either here at 2Snaps or over at our Brotha site HorrorYearbook.com. This week we have the pleasure of having a review from Tony DeFrancisco, he's only 15 and writes better than me. You can read Tony's other reviews on his My Space HERE.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007)
3 out of 4 stars
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley

"You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one." - Geoffrey Rush, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

When Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl came to DVD back in 2003, I was all over it. I didn't get to see it in theatres, so when I received it for a Christmas gift that year, I turned it on, and watched it. I found it to be really amazing, and I still do. The visual effects looked real and Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush put on the performances of their lives. Hell, after watching that movie, I had a crush on Keira Knightley. It was one of my favorite movies of 2003, along with (yeah, Im saying this) Malibu's Most Wanted and American Wedding.

Then came Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last summer. I remember that when I was going out with this one girl, she was a total "Pirate" freak. I promised her that opening day that I would take her to go see the sequel, and I ditched her (I let her know before hand that I was going to the beach). She dumped me that day, and then I caught the movie on DVD. I think that she might have dumped me after I told her what I thought about the movie. I didn't like it at all. I thought it was disappointing, and while it may have been me expecting to much, I asked five other people and they agreed with me. At least I wasn't the nutty one this time.

I published an article on summer movies the underrated movies that won't make much, and the movies that will make tons of money that you guys will rate your favorite movies at the end of the year. At World's End was originally on that list. I didnt want to see this in theatres and was going to wait for DVD. The reason for the change? Spider-Man 3. I figured that if I was expecting so much of this movie and got what I thought was so little, I'd go see a movie I'd expect so little from and hope to get a lot more than I was watching.

Emo Peter Parker, watch and learn from Captain Jack Sparrow. You're lucky that he didn't tie you to the anchor of the Black Pearl and drag you.

Yes, I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End I thought it was a hell of a lot better than the second film, but not as much as the first. It's still very entertaining though, and a great way to end the film trilogy. It wasn't hard for me to follow the storyline, what with people complaining about it. I felt that Spider-Man 3 was more complex than this, and the good thing is is that Jack doesn't go emo, or maybe in Jack's case, preppy.

Following the events from the last movie, Elizabeth, Will, and the once dead Captain Barbossa just captured Captain Jack Sparrow, and they must face their enemies, Davy Jones and Lord Beckett. If you remember from the last one, Beckett has Davy Jone's heart in his chest, and he wants to form a dark alliance to wipe out the rest of the pirates. The crew call together the Pirate Lords to help them develop a plan to kill Davy Jones and Beckett, before they kill all the pirates.

Does the plot matter? No. People come to this trilogy for three reasons: 1. The mindless action scenes. 2. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley for eye candy. and 3. Just Disney themselves. I betcha if it wasn't under Disney's name, the opening weekend gross would be at least a half less of what it was. Anyway, there are some ups and downs of the film. First, I'll get to the downs.

Whenever Johnny Depp is on the screen, the film shines like gold. Whenever he's not, the movie feels like it's failing. Now, Depp is in the movie a lot. But the first thirty or so minutes, he's not here. We certainly know that Rush can take on the film himself, but are we so sure that Bloom and Knightley, regardless of their looks, can take on the movie? And don't get me started with Bloom starring in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Knightley was in Pride and Prejudice. Depp has a lot more experience than these two, and while both Bloom and Knightley starred in some great movies over the past few years since the original, I still don't think they can take on a film by theirselves. It takes a man with some huge cojones, and that's where Depp comes in. And at least we see thirty Depps in his first scene (question, would this be a reference to Depp's Secret Window, or just saying that he feels like he's just being locked up and developing multiple personalities?).

Another down is that without the action scenes, the whole film feels boring. I remember feeling bored about the second hour into it, and very confused. We have Will Turner, played by Bloom, acting as a villain for one minute, and then, as a hero for another. We also have characters building up, Tia Dalma and James Norrington and we even get to see Chow Yun-Fat for a while, but his character is pretty much useless to the film. Now Tia Dalma, there should be no excuse. We knew this character for a good time now, and we leave her like how we did, it just felt useless. And the whole relationship between her and Davy Jones ended at a bad note. Same as James Norrington. When he was killed off, it just felt like the scriptwriters just had to kill him. And I thought we had a while since 300 to see these slow motion action scenes.

But then there is good. Besides the obvious performances played by Depp, Rush, and Knightley (and no, not Bloom. Sorry, I'm not as fascinated as his looks as you are. To tell you the truth Id rather look at a bag of dog crap than look at him), we get one hell of a performance by both Bill Nighy, and cameo Keith Richards. Keith Richards is only in two scenes, but his performance is there, and we can feel it each time he speaks. Do we exactly know if he's Sparrow's daddy? No, we don't. There's a chance he isn't. But we can figure that if he acts like Sparrow, talks like Sparrow, thinks likes Sparrow, well, he's Sparrow alright.

And unlike the last movie, this one was actually entertaining. The last hour must have been the most action packed hour I've seen in a Disney movie. And the best part about it? The action scene must have had the best wedding in a movie or TV show... ever. Eat your heart out, Desperate Housewives. Verbinski and everyone involved with this movie really have outdone theirselves this time. Will the movie be remembered for it's plot? Probably not. It will be more likely be remembered for it's mindless action scenes.

The movie has a lot going for it - it has humor, seriousness, Johnny Depp, action, Keira Knightley, and surprisingly, good. I actually thought that I got a lot more than what I thought I was going to get. Maybe that if I wasn't expecting much from Spider-Man 3, maybe I would have enjoyed it a little bit more... nahh... fuck it.

P.S. If you don't know it by now already, stay after the end credits. It actually has something to do with the plot, unlike the other one. Yeah, the credits are long. Drain the main vein, then come back.

Tony DeFrancisco