blaHCL Presents

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)

So Disney’s Pirates triology has come a full circle with the release of At World’s End. With Jerry Bruckheimer betting his next big bucks on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, we probably will not be seeing another PotC sequal any time soon. And for that, I’m grateful. Don’t get me wrong, PotC: AWE is a great summer action flick in its own right - with the star line-up, Hans Zimmer’s score, and action-packed sequences, it’s got every element a successful action movie needs. But it could have been better. Much better!

First off, if I were to rank the triology, it’d be Curse of The Black Pearl > At World’s End > Dead Man’s Chest. Understandable. The sequals were, after all, “tagged on” after seeing the success of Black Pearl. One main problem with the PotC series is their editing - the movie drags. It drags. It’s like the drag at the end of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and A.I.: Artificial Intellegence. Except with Pirates, it’s not just the ending. It’s most of the movie.

The movie clocked in at almost 3 hours. But there were so many parts in the movie that could have been trimmed down, or cut off altogether, and yet still deliver all the necessary information and sustain interest from the audience. I felt the experience would have be much better if it were a 2-hour movie instead. Some of the “romance” were so cliche it almost feel like you’re watching another one of Disney’s fairy tale flicks.

The romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan were already played out in the previous two Pirates. It was quite a bore to see that storyline re-surface again in AWE. The romance of Davey Jones also played a significant role this time around. That part of the story was hinted in DMC, and finally came a full circle in AWE. But the way that story ended is, well, rather underwhelming. I guess there was just too many things going on in the movie, that it became difficult to feel attached to any of the characters or sympathize with their “heart-wrenching” stories.

Besides the romance, there’s wit. One reason PotC became a hit was in no doubt thanks to the witty Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). In DMC, Jack was protrayed more as a wuzz than anything. There were a few witty moments, but most of the time he’s just running away from things. In AWE, we see even less of the wits coming from him than the previous two. I was having such high hope to see a battle of wits among Sparrow, Barbosa, and Davey Jones. But in the end, Sparrow turned into a coward, Barbosa was demoted to a mere crew member, and Davey Jones… a puppet. There were a few moments in the movie where their “old” personalities began to shine through. But it vanishes shortly after. There is also this one theme that kept building up throughout the movie, but when it came time to hit that high note, it fell short. It fell so short that it wiped out all the excitement I built up to that moment. After that point, I pretty much can’t care less what happens next. This, I blame the screenplay.

There is no lack of action in AWE. But when it comes to action sequences, I thought DMC hit the high mark. It’s hard to forget the three-way swords fight and the “wheel of fortune” sequences from DMC. In AWE, however, there was less of those clever battle scenes. Replacing it is more “bang” and “booms,” accompanied with Hans Zimmer’s typical boom boom bang fanfare. There is this long battle at the end of the movie that lasted what felt like an eternity! The music and sound effect was so loud and messy that I’d rather be at a rock concert than in the theater. Guess the choreographer ran out of ideas, so whenever the battle scene runs dry, it’s Jack the monkey to the rescue! Remember the zombie monkey Jack from the first movie? Yeah, you’ll see him several time in the movie. Kinda like the intermission orchestra you see at a play or musical, whenever you see him, it’s a sign that the battle is about half-way through. So stretch a bit, you’re almost there! I’m not saying the entire movie is lack of innovation, but it’s got too little new idea/energy to hold you through 3 hours. Many ideas were just recycled from the previous two movies (e.g. cannibal island swing vs. rock-rock-rock-your-boat).

All complaints aside, PotC: AWE is a decent movie on its own. The production value is pretty high, and it is overall entertaining. I would definitely love to see Disney take some parts of the movie out and make a ride out of it (in addition to the existing PotC ride, that is). Would I suggest watching this in a theater? Absolutely! Some scenes and effects are meant to be watched on the big screen. Just don’t go in with any expectation, or you’d risk being underwhelmed.