This summer it seems excess is the word. From Spiderman’s multitude of villains, Die Hard 4.0’s catalogue of destruction and even Michael Bay’s Transformers each blockbuster, and more importantly sequel, has to fight not only to attract an audience and make money at the box office, but top whatever has come before. No more is this apparent than with the release of At World’s End, the third Pirates of the Caribbean film. Hot on the heals of Dead Man’s Chest, released last year the film has the unenviable task of not only living up to and surpassing the previous films, but also resolving the myriad plots strands and character arcs set up to date.
But excess has always been a part of the Pirates series, those who complain of bloated and overly complicated sequels are overlooking the fact that these traits have been prevalent throughout the series, watching the first film again recently I not only still really enjoyed it but realised how complicated and plot heavy that film is as well. The whole series derives its joy from the needs of these characters and there is nothing writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio like more than putting obstacles in their way and conflicting these wants with each other. When you boil every film down they are all about the main characters and what they ultimately want, what confuses things is when everyone else wants something too, and the world of pirating lends itself perfectly to this rather selfish and mutinous environment where no-one is to be trusted and everyone has an agenda.
Following on from the second film At World’s End sees Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa and his crew heading out to get Jack back from Davy Jones’ locker, before summoning a meeting of the Pirate Lords to combat the threat of the East Indian Trading Company who, with the help of Davy Jones himself, are putting waste to pirates throughout the globe. To explain any more would not only waste space but ruin the film. Suffice to say people are betrayed, sword-fights are had and Jack returns to save the day (but only for himself). With the serious overtones and often ominous mood of the film there could easily have been the possibility of it becoming rather dull and dark, but fear not as the series lightness of touch saves it from this fate imbuing all the scenes with a touch of humour and fun bringing back the sensibilities that made the first film so enjoyable.
In fact I think this film is funnier than Dead Mans Chest in terms of laughs and sheer enjoyment and whilst it’s near 3 hour running time does test your patience at times I never found myself bored and in fact it felt shorter than Spiderman 3 which I saw recently. Part of this is due to the fact that you do actually care about the characters and they are given interesting twists. Now I am still no great fan of either Kiera Knightley or Orlando Bloom who again slightly struggle to carry the film and while they probably give their best work of the series here, though I still may have preferred the series as a whole had these roles been re-cast. That said the return of Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa is a big factor in the films success and both himself and Johnny Depp light up the screen whenever they are on. In fact Depp outdoes himself here playing Jack as slightly more mad but just as disparate as before, his fate and rescue are nigh on perfect and, thankfully he features here more than the last film embodying the giddy nature of these films more than anyone (except maybe the monkey).
However the film is by no means perfect and the aforementioned excess of plot lines, characters and resolutions does get a bit much, the pirate council meeting is largely as dull as all council meetings in films tend to be, and the film sticks closely to action-epic cliché’s especially towards the end with generals giving empowering speeches to their armies, something that felt a tad out of place. I also got a bit tired of the constant crossing and double crossing of the characters, but maybe that was just the desire to see one or two characters able to work together in trust rather than act independently for their own needs.
Whatever else you say about the film though you can’t deny it is sheer spectacle. ILM have once again outdone themselves and every frame of the film looks stunning. The production design is again top notch and the final battle sequences are some of the best looking, exciting and entertaining I have ever seen, even if the film sags in the build up it does not disappoint in the end.
So when all is said and done you already know whether you are a fan of these films. Those who had problems with the first two are likely to struggle here as well, but for those wanting more of the same there is plenty to love here. Obviously a lot of care and attention has gone into the film both in its writing and construction and the universe that has been created is unique and oddly believable and it makes a change from cookie cutter action films to see such an original and crazy concept make it to the big screen. For what they have done the Pirates films have reignited audiences love of swashbuckling adventures and for fans of big loud summer entertainment, this can only be good news.
Long, complicated and darker than its predecessors this film somehow manages to be just as entertaining with satisfying resolutions all round and some amazing battle sequences. Some will long for the days of simple stories, but for the rest there is enough crazy pirate mayhem here to keep a grin stuck firmly on your face.
This summer it seems excess is the word. From Spiderman’s multitude of villains, Die Hard 4.0’s catalogue of destruction and even Michael Bay’s Transformers each blockbuster, and more importantly sequel, has to fight not only to attract an audience and make money at the box office, but top whatever has come before. No more is this apparent than with the release of At World’s End, the third Pirates of the Caribbean film. Hot on the heals of Dead Man’s Chest, released last year the film has the unenviable task of not only living up to and surpassing the previous films, but also resolving the myriad plots strands and character arcs set up to date.
But excess has always been a part of the Pirates series, those who complain of bloated and overly complicated sequels are overlooking the fact that these traits have been prevalent throughout the series, watching the first film again recently I not only still really enjoyed it but realised how complicated and plot heavy that film is as well. The whole series derives its joy from the needs of these characters and there is nothing writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio like more than putting obstacles in their way and conflicting these wants with each other. When you boil every film down they are all about the main characters and what they ultimately want, what confuses things is when everyone else wants something too, and the world of pirating lends itself perfectly to this rather selfish and mutinous environment where no-one is to be trusted and everyone has an agenda.
Following on from the second film At World’s End sees Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa and his crew heading out to get Jack back from Davy Jones’ locker, before summoning a meeting of the Pirate Lords to combat the threat of the East Indian Trading Company who, with the help of Davy Jones himself, are putting waste to pirates throughout the globe. To explain any more would not only waste space but ruin the film. Suffice to say people are betrayed, sword-fights are had and Jack returns to save the day (but only for himself). With the serious overtones and often ominous mood of the film there could easily have been the possibility of it becoming rather dull and dark, but fear not as the series lightness of touch saves it from this fate imbuing all the scenes with a touch of humour and fun bringing back the sensibilities that made the first film so enjoyable.
In fact I think this film is funnier than Dead Mans Chest in terms of laughs and sheer enjoyment and whilst it’s near 3 hour running time does test your patience at times I never found myself bored and in fact it felt shorter than Spiderman 3 which I saw recently. Part of this is due to the fact that you do actually care about the characters and they are given interesting twists. Now I am still no great fan of either Kiera Knightley or Orlando Bloom who again slightly struggle to carry the film and while they probably give their best work of the series here, though I still may have preferred the series as a whole had these roles been re-cast. That said the return of Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa is a big factor in the films success and both himself and Johnny Depp light up the screen whenever they are on. In fact Depp outdoes himself here playing Jack as slightly more mad but just as disparate as before, his fate and rescue are nigh on perfect and, thankfully he features here more than the last film embodying the giddy nature of these films more than anyone (except maybe the monkey).
However the film is by no means perfect and the aforementioned excess of plot lines, characters and resolutions does get a bit much, the pirate council meeting is largely as dull as all council meetings in films tend to be, and the film sticks closely to action-epic cliché’s especially towards the end with generals giving empowering speeches to their armies, something that felt a tad out of place. I also got a bit tired of the constant crossing and double crossing of the characters, but maybe that was just the desire to see one or two characters able to work together in trust rather than act independently for their own needs.
Whatever else you say about the film though you can’t deny it is sheer spectacle. ILM have once again outdone themselves and every frame of the film looks stunning. The production design is again top notch and the final battle sequences are some of the best looking, exciting and entertaining I have ever seen, even if the film sags in the build up it does not disappoint in the end.
So when all is said and done you already know whether you are a fan of these films. Those who had problems with the first two are likely to struggle here as well, but for those wanting more of the same there is plenty to love here. Obviously a lot of care and attention has gone into the film both in its writing and construction and the universe that has been created is unique and oddly believable and it makes a change from cookie cutter action films to see such an original and crazy concept make it to the big screen. For what they have done the Pirates films have reignited audiences love of swashbuckling adventures and for fans of big loud summer entertainment, this can only be good news.
Long, complicated and darker than its predecessors this film somehow manages to be just as entertaining with satisfying resolutions all round and some amazing battle sequences. Some will long for the days of simple stories, but for the rest there is enough crazy pirate mayhem here to keep a grin stuck firmly on your face.
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