“… an amazing final chapter to an already amazing franchise.”

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and the end to what I will once again call one of the best trilogies in film history. Davy Jones must be stopped and Will Turner is the one leading the charge. In order to fulfill his promise and save his father, Will Turner must enlist the help of as many pirates he can find, including the currently “dead” Captain Jack Sparrow, to take down Davy Jones once and for all. I mean, that’s pretty much the entire plot but trust me when I say that it is much better than I have made it sound.

I’m not sure where to start with this review so I might as well start at the beginning. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (hereby referred to as “Pirates 3” or “Pirates of the Caribbean: Why do they Give these Movies Such Long Titles?”) starts off with one of the darkest scenes in the franchise: the hanging of a child. If that doesn’t set the tone for what you’re about to see then I don’t know what will. The film continues on with a very fun scene that takes place in Singapore where we get to see more of what we love: action and comedy. The film then presents what is one of my favourite scenes in the entire franchise which is the Davy Jones’ Locker sequence. I’m not going to spoil anything but I really love how the film tackled the subject of seclusion with some lighthearted quips, without undermining the severity of it. What happens next is something that I completely forgot happens in this movie. After sitting there for about two hours, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End comes to a close. Just as quickly as it st- Wait, what do you mean there is still an hour and forty five minutes left? What the hell happened? That’s right, Pirates 3 seemingly hits a wall about halfway through. Now this wall is invisible in that you don’t realize that it is there until you’ve already passed through it. You feel like you’ve been watching this movie for long enough only to turn around and see that the past twenty minutes has been moving along at a snail’s pace. I honestly think that a lot of that shit could have been cut out, especially considering that I don’t even remember what occurred during that portion of the movie. Pirates 3 clocks in at two hours and fifty minutes, about twenty minutes longer than the previous two films, and you can really feel it. Not only do I think Pirates 3 is twenty minutes too long, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you could cut more than that out. The only things that I can really remember during this portion of the movie is the numerous plot holes that made me think I had dozed off and missed a few scenes. Once again, I don’t want to spoil anything but I will say that I think it is interesting that Captain Jack Sparrow’s compass, in addition to  being “broken”, has the ability to teleport.

So all of this shit happens and I’m already outlining the scathing review that I’m going to give this movie, but then it happens. The final forty minutes of Pirates 3 rolls around and I am instantly transported back into this world. For the third time, I’m not going to spoil anything but I will be speaking vaguely about the plot in this portion of my review. The final battle in Pirates 3 is some of the best action I may have ever seen on film. But it’s not even just because of how it was shot or choreographed, but rather because of the stakes. For three movies we have been learning about these characters and their struggles, and finally everything comes to fruition. This battle is very stunning to watch don’t get me wrong, but it’s so fucking great because of what it represents. But let’s talk about how good this fight looked or a minute, because it was amazing. The effects in this movie, in this scene in particular, are fucking spectacular. The elaborate set pieces that these characters are fighting on come to life because of these amazing effects. The film does a good job of capturing the chaos of the moment while not losing sight of the focus of these scenes. The effects throughout the entire movie were great, but this scene is the one that I would show people to convey just how fucking epic this franchise is. This is the moment that these films have been building to; and just like that I had forgotten about the wall that I had to pass through to get to this point. And it wasn’t just the final battle that left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. The ending to this film (well, really this trilogy) was so fulfilling that I can’t even begin to explain how satisfied I was with it. Every single thing that was set up got its payoff. Even things that you expected to never see again made an appearance and just like that the trilogy was wrapped up with a neat little bow.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End brings what I would call one of the best trilogies in film history to a close. It opens strong, stumbles a bit in the middle, but then fishes stronger than I could have ever hoped for giving me everything I have ever wanted out of this franchise. With great performances, great effects, a wonderful score, and a story that perfectly wraps up the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is an amazing final chapter to an already amazing franchise.

I give Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End a B