PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

What started out as a mere adaptation into a feature film of one of Disney's most popular theme park attractions has now turned into a hugely successful franchise. Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a surprise hit at the box office which lead to producers announcing two more sequels, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End which were filmed back to back.

At World's End picks up immediately where its predecessor, Dead Man's Chest, left with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, being dragged into the depths of the sea into Davy Jones' (Bill Nighy) locker. Fortunately, he is soon rescued by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and other members of the crew. After he's rescued, the crew must prepare to fight the East India Trading Company which is currently being led by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), who currently has control of Jones and plans to extinguish piracy for good. This leads to a thrilling climax and fitting conclusion to this story.

I can understand the criticism this received. At 168 minutes, it's the longest of all the Pirates films, however, I would say it's worth every minute. There's plenty of exciting action sequences, tense and dramatic moments and character and plot development to make this one of the best in the franchise. Many have described the plot as 'confusing' which, initially, I would agree with but, after watching it several times, I fully understand the story. It is one of those films that needs your 100% attention. The dialogue is key to a viewer's understanding as they reveal truths about other characters that we didn't already know. This has plenty of unexpected twists and turns to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. 

The performances are just as solid as they were in Dead Man's Chest. The highlight of every Pirates film is, of course, Depp as the amusing Sparrow. However, since this is the most serious film in the franchise, we see less of his comedic side and becomes more concerned with saving his own skin and his beloved ship. Will and Elizabeth's relationship is also put on the back burner due to her actions in the previous film's climax and things are rocky between them. The pair spend the majority of the film separated, however, their relationship soon escalates in the climax. We see Will wanting to save his father, Bill 'Bootstrap Bill' Turner (Stellan Skarsgård). Elizabeth becomes caught up in a misunderstanding and ends up being one of the Pirate Kings. Her motivational speech just before the big battle towards the end of the film shows how determined she is and what a talented actress Knightley is. With Jones now being controlled by Beckett, we don't see that much of him but he's still incredibly intimidating, especially in the final battle. 

The budget for this film was estimated to be $300 million which is more than the budget for all three of the Lord Of The Rings films put together. You can see the incredible hard work the production team have put into creating this film. Over the course of 168 minutes, there's some impressive cinematography, especially when the ships are sailing across the sea. To emphasise that this is the darkest of the three so far, the majority of the colours used are murky greys, dark greens and black. The dramatic climax uses rain and Hans Zimmer's score to highlight the intensity of the battle and the fight for survival. 

Like Dead Man's Chest, At World's End was the highest grossing film of 2007, beating the fifth Harry Potter film and making over $963 million. The fourth film, On Stranger Tides, was released four years later, proving that it is still one of the most successful franchises.

This is director Gore Verbinski's final film and he said that he felt it was 'important to make the third film the end of an era' and it certainly is. The first three films, in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, are successful in creating entertainment for the viewer and keeps them engaged all the way through to the end. The characters have developed a lot since the first film, the acting has been improved and At World's End has one of the best battle sequences ever seen on screen. Yes, it's a long film and a few scenes could have been cut but the majority of the film works at continuing the story on from Dead Man's Chest. 

8/10

Read my review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl here.

Read my review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest here.

Read my review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides here.