The third of the POTC movies, in addition to the returning Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp, the movie also stars Chow Yun Fat.
Its not quite as good a climax as one might hope for in the trilogy, although its fairly entertaining. The movie starts off with almost ridiculous grimness as we are treated to a public execution commanded by the real antagonist of the piece, Lord Cutler Beckett. From there, we join our heroes as they make a desperate play into Singapore to obtain a map that will lead them to Davy Jones' Locker...and the lost Jack Sparrow. There, they tangle with Chow Yun Fat, one of the pirate captains who squats in his den like a deadly spider.
And from there...well, the plot is convoluted and long and it forces you to remember and pay attention to events from the previous movie as well as this one in order to keep it all straight. Lots of double dealing, alliance switching, and conflicts, one of which descends into comedy and self parody.
The action scenes and special effects are well done. There is lots of eye candy.
As far as that convoluted plot...There are a few missteps, in my opinion, especially given the "with a whimper" fate that befalls the mighty Kraken (and off screen no less). The movie goes to perhaps too much excess on every front (including the extravagence of having Keith Richards play Sparrow's father in a brief cameo).
And the movie makes a huge mistake, as far as I can see, and perhaps someone can correct me. At the Brethren Court, we see the nine Pirate Captains...including Jack (who had to be rescued) and Barbarossa. But...wasn't Barbarossa only a captain after he stole the ship from Jack in the time before the first Pirates movie? And if he was a captain, why was he serving under Jack on the Pearl in the first place? Is the first movie retconned thereby?
Thus the problems of an overcomplicated plot, and its this over-cleverness that is a hallmark of the movie along with the special effects.
The movie entertains, but its not without its problems.
Posted by Jvstin at February 11, 2008 4:49 PM