Merrick here...

...with two looks at PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END.

The first write-up is from Memflix, a frequent contributor to the site. I would provide links to some of his previous reviews, but our search engine fucking sucks & I can't find more than a few.

BEWARE MODERATE SPOILERS!!!

Here's Memflix:

Memflix here once again with a look at “Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End.” One of my goals in reviewing is to avoid spoilers. I don’t like reading them and feel that disclosing plot points would be hypocritical. For those of you who enjoy spoilers, I apologize.

Everyone should get ready for the barrage of comparisons to May’s earlier release, “Spider-Man 3.” Like S3, “Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End” definitely packs a lot of story and contrivances into its overlong running time of 3 hours (with trailers). Going in to ‘World’s End,” my expectations were low. I forced myself to get ready for an assault on the very nature of plausibility, due to its predecessor “Dead Man’s Chest.” I loved the 1st movie, “Curse of the Black Pearl.” It was light, engaging, and fun. However, instead of just making a sequel, the filmmakers made the ill-conceived choice of turning it into a trilogy of sorts. The "X-Men" and "Matrix" movies made the same mistake.

All 3 franchises were built on the somewhat unexpected popularity of the original films. Neither constructed a viable “trilogy” story line to propel the end result. With “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the studio felt the need to put a period at the end of the sentence for whatever reason. This decision crippled the entire X-Men legacy. In the second and third Matrix films, the Wachowski brothers showed a disdain for its fans and did their very best in trying to show everyone how much smarter they were than everyone else. That arrogance destroyed a franchise that had the potential of rivaling even the first 3 Star War films (thank the gods for LOTR).

Because “Spider-Man 3” is so recent, that’s where the comparisons will be drawn, but the ridiculous plotline of the last two Matrix films is damn near parallel to the problems in “Pirates.” Instead of sticking to the man vs. machine angle in Matrix, it opted for existential meaning of life nonsense and broke the hearts of “The Matrix’ fans everywhere. However, because ‘Pirates” was never taken as seriously as that, they ran a lesser risk of angering the fans. In addition, introducing a mythological landscape in “Dead Man’s Chest,” didn’t alienate viewers, it just merely confused them. It should come as a relief to fans, that any questions posed in the 2nd, are answered here. (I say 2nd instead of 1st, because I don’t recall any questions that demanded answers.)

In “Dead Man’s Chest,” they introduced a new villain (Davy Jones) with such a far-reaching history that not even mentioning him in the first clearly showed that he wasn’t conceived until “Chest.” In order to enjoy the film, I decided to think of “At World’s End” as a sequel to “Dead Man’s,” rather than the final film of a trilogy. The approach worked.

Other than the name and the characters, “Dead Man” and “World’s End” have nothing in common with “The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

“World’s End” ties up the story started in “Chest.” Instead of long, pointless action pieces like the ‘natives’ in “Chest,” all of the action, all of the subplots are all pieces to the puzzle. It could’ve stood to lose 30 minutes or so, but for the most part, it was enjoyable. It doesn’t stand up to the first but it surpasses the second.

One of the subplots and the driving force of the entire film is a mythical love story between Davy Jones and the woman who made him the ‘thing’ that he is. His life, his very soul, was taken from him only because he loved the wrong woman. The nature and story of the woman is integral to overall plotline, so divulging it would be wrong. However, the scene where Davy Jones confronts the woman who damned him was tense and satisfying. This is all thanks to Bill Nighy’s ability to soak up all of a scene’s kinetic energy and blow it out through the screen.

I was relieved to see that Davy Jones was the center here, instead of the tireless, boring, mundane romance between William Turner and Elizabeth Swann. (For fans of the romance, there is resolution). I didn’t care in the 1st one, I loathed them in the 2nd, and because they were merely in the background, I wasn’t as bothered in the 3rd.

Sparrow is toned down. Depp is allowed to flesh out Jack a lot more than he was in “Chest.” It was refreshing, seeing him used for more than just comic relief or a set piece.

Chow-Yun Fat (Yun-Fat Chow) plays Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore . I’d say he was the most unnecessary of the new characters. The actor was fine in the role, but Feng’s own personal demons clouded the more pertinent story.

Keith Richard’s role as the possible father to Depp’s Jack Sparrow has been buzzed about ever since Depp told reporters that he was channeling the ‘Rolling Stone.’

I am happy to say that Richards is by far the best addition to the franchise since Nighy as Davy Jones. He was funny, but never over the top. I’m not going to spoil whether he is or isn’t Jack’s father. This small mystery shouldn’t be spoiled for fans of Richard’s.

The action sequences and special effects are far superior to those of “Chest’s.” It does seem to retain a little bit of the spirit of “Black Pearl,” which infuses it with more of the excitement, we were robbed of in “Chest.” The final battle scene is splendid. The effects people at Sony need to take a page out of “World’s” playbook and put it to use in the fourth Spider-Man movie.

“Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End” is contrived. It is all over the place, trying to maneuver in a mythological world that was barely set up in the second of this so-called trilogy. In a recent interview with EW, the filmmakers admitted that the last two are far more confusing than the first. They weren’t lying. It is hard to figure out all of it. It seems hardly worth the effort to try to solve the puzzles of a story that never should have had them in the first place. However, what makes the last two “Pirates” stand apart from the last two “Matrix” films, is solution. It isn’t the cop out, “Choose your own Adventure” bullshit, “Reloaded” and “Revolutions” suffered from. The two franchises may have been sewn from the same cloth of conception, but Pirates doesn’t do the audience the disservice that was done in “Matrix 1 &2.”

I suspect that “At World’s End” will have plenty of detractors, a lot of which visit this site. However, if you go in expecting something better than the 2nd, but not superior to the 1st, you should be entertained.

Up next?

Gilmour with another, assessment...

Hey there --

I was in the audience Monday night at the El Captain theater in Hollywood to see the very first screening of Pirates of the Caribbean At Worlds End -- Jerry Bruckhiemer himself welcomed us and told us we were the first to see it. Here are just a few thoughts ---

Dark..... very very dark.

The opening scene alone had many in the crowd, (granted it was mostly press) in awe --- We didn't just see that did we? -- The film is just as long if not longer than the second one -- The effects are amazing -- the plot --- VERY confusing --- and When we see Capt Jack for the first time,... lets just say he is in Davy Jones locker -- surreal... strange.... doesn't seem like it fits --- So many characters to tidy things up....

I wont give too much away, except to say --- its much darker and really lacks the humor found in the first two -- also.. myself.. and a few others found ourselves, about to get up out of our chairs thinking it was over... when.... ugh... another scene...... it FELT much longer than part two --- I'm kinda sad about it because it really seemed to lack the joy and fun of the first two --- anyway -- just my two cents --- sworn to secrecy about giving any kind of early review - so I thought I would send this to you ---

Also..... Orlando Bloom was the only main actor taking part in the media junket the next day... No Johnny == No Keira ---- Hmmmmmmmm...

So, there you go.

I know there's been a blackout of press screenings for this film in at least one part of the country. Reading the reactions above, it's hard not to wonder if some (unnecessary) confidence issue is at play.