Merrick here...
My man Jolly Roger sent in this review of PIRATES AT THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END. I've known Jolly for a while, now. He's a hardcore geek & avid AICN follower, so I thought you might appreciate his perspective.

BEWARE HEAVY SPOILERS HERE!!! INCLUDING PLOT, AND DETAILS ABOUT THE FILM'S POST-END CREDITS SEQUENCE!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Here's Jolly Roger...

Hey Merrick, It's early Sunday morning (5/20) and I just got back from the Disneyland; World Premiere of Pirates 3: At Worlds End, the red carpet was just insane, I've never seen so many people turn out to an event. Disney sure did it up right for guests of this party, I'm so pirated out right now that I'm almost glad the hype is over and I can move onto Transformers. But wanted to give you my review of the film. First off, let me just say this. At Worlds End is NOT your fathers Pirates of the Caribbean. In the way that Episode 3 of Star Wars had that much darker tone, this 3rd film also shared that formula. If the 1st two reeled you in as being fun and quirky with skeleton pirates, funny monkeys, waddling Jack, an Octupus man and sword fights then Disney did its job, this film throws most of those light and colorful perceptions out the window. If the earlier films started out like this, it'd be a totally different trilogy! (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD MATEY, ALERT!!!) The film starts with Lord Becketts army basically hanging any man, woman AND child who is, was or has been associated with pirates, it is chilling and morbid...and then 3 minutes in it suddenly becomes a musical with all the doomed joining in unison to sing a pirate anthem...I wasn't sure at this point where the film was headed. Singapore got the film on track. Kudos to Rick Heinnrich the Production Designer on the entire look of this film, so detailed and gorgeous. His team did did an amazing job (and he was seated a few rows ahead of me tonight too). So in Singapore there is a whole plot to steal Sao Fengs ship and the ancient maps and it sort of feels like a mission along the lines of THE ROCK (very Bruckheimerish). We see Elizabeth Swann as a pirate now, she has shed the princess persona for this movie. A scene where she basically goes thru a security checkpoint and turns in her weapons is just great, we see how rough and tough she's become. About 20 mins in we finally get the taste of our 1st big on-screen fight as the East India trading company crashes the party and goes on a killing spree. They are ruthless, this set of scenes if very graphic and disturbing, lots of shooting and death. Will, Barbosa, Liz and the rest of the gang escape in Sao Fengs ship and go in search of Wicked Jack at Worlds End. This Asian ship sails thru some amazing visuals, from an arctic sea to a ocean full of stars. Watching the little monkey freezing was almost cute. Around 30 minutes in Davey Jones shows up and starts tearing up the place in the Flying Dutchman, its the 1st on screen battle at sea and it doesn't disappoint. His sea-themed crew never looked cooler and a new EEL crew member is rad! We also see Jones shed tears of rage over his lost love Calypso, the sea goddess. Around this time our cast topples over that waterfall to their destiation... It takes a good 45 minutes but FINALLY we see Jack Sparrow appear and what can only be described as his "Multiplicity" moment. The time it must have taken to shoot Depp in sooooo many angles for this scene is crazy to imagine, but WOW...it is cool! We also learn that a rock...isn't always a rock. Jack and the old gang meet up, we learn Barbosa's 1st name is Hector, soon the Black Pearl is on the water again (it was in the middle of the desert earlier, reminded me of that scene from Close Encounters) Now Jack and Barbosa are fighting over who's the Captain of the Pearl and it comes down to a pissing contest that basically equals a "who's telescope is bigger?" Then the film gets eerie and darker...you've heard of the DEAD SEA? Well they are certainly in it and it's nightmarish at points. By the hour 1 mark the crew is back in the real world of the living, we see the demise of the Krakken and the return of Sao Feng, we also learn that Will Turner has plans of his own and that includes being a bit of a traitor, was a nice turn...but he still pines for Swann who now is losing interest in Turner...oh the Drama! But thru all this the pacing of the film has been non stop. Make-up wise, the faces seem dirtier, grittier and more weathered in this tale and all the villains eyes seem bloodshot and tired. Another HUGE gory sword fight erupts about 90 minutes in, Sao Feng bites it and the crew arrive at Shipwreck Cove. We learn what the 9 pieces of 8 are (junk), Davey and Tia Dalma (aka Calypso and Jones lost love) reunite and we see Davey Jones PRE-SQUIDFACE!!! We meet the Pirate Lords which are ok, and we see some very brief cameo interaction w/ the Pirate King Capt.Teague who we learn is actually Daddy Sparrow...and we meet Mummy...I mean Mommy Sparrow as well!!! Ever wonder what the keys the dog in the Pirates ride are holding go to? We always assumed it was to the jail cell, but now we see it's for something else, the Pirate Book of Rules! (Looks like a huge scrapbook) Swann is nominated the Pirate Leader and she takes full on bad-ass control, the Pirates all band together to stop Lord Beckett as Elizabeth yells "Hoist the Colours" and then all hell breaks loose as they get ready for the epic battle! A little over 2 hours in Calypso (Tia Dalma) is transformed into a 50ft woman who then turns into millions of crabs and causes a Maelstrom/whirlpool which kicks off a 20 minute non-stop action sequence which will knock your socks off. This key part of the movie is the swashbuckling pirates we've all been waiting to see. Its the Episode 1 Darth Maul fight sequence from Star Wars but on the open seas. The Dutchman goes head to head w/ the Black Pearl, Sparrow and Jones sword fight, there is a Marriage on the High Seas, an Explosive building climax and a total rip off of Return of the Jedi's final Emperor's Throne Room scene (minus the flailing lightning bolts), but between Will Turner, Davey Jones and Bootstrap Bill. THEE coolest moment, which is Oscar worthy is the effect of Lord Beckett's ship the Endeavor being blown to smithereens around him as he proudly goes down w/ the vessel. THIS SHIT WAS AWESOME!!! I'd pay just to see that effect sequence again. About 130 minutes in Davey Jones visits his own locker, Will Turner bites it, the Dutchman goes down the drain and thank god for Seaweed Parachutes is all I have to say. All seems rectified, Jack loses his ship again, the line we've seen in the clips of Swann saying it'd never work between them and he says "Keep Telling Yourself That" got HUGE laughs. There is a super sexy ending between Liz and Will, he gives her his heart, theres a sunset kiss and then Jack and Barbosa are seen both separately heading on a mission for the Aqua de Vida (the Fountain of Youth). Living Forever seems to be the underlining goal for most of the characters in this film trilogy. Overall...a great ride...and I dont mean the theme park one. I think it closed all the doors and left ones open for possible sequels. There is a few minute scene AFTER all the credits roll which was really cool and gives us a look 10 yrs in the future of some of our characters, definitely stick around for that!!! Costumes, Sound, Visuals, Effects, they all went the gambit in this one. And acting, well it is what it is for these kind of movies, this isn't the Departed, it's Pirates, and going into that, you get a really fun movie, but like I said, much darker in tone than the others, parents beware!!! You have been warned. I would say see Dead Mans Chest again before going out and seeing At Worlds End because in the past year since I saw pt.2 there were plot points I had forgotten about that left me trying to catch up w/ the storyline. I was disappointed that I didn't see Samurai Jack or Sao Feng on the beach, I guess all those early leaked pics were to throw everyone off. Despite all what I've mentioned, seeing this on the big screen will be a BIG treat visually, I encourage anyone to invest $10 and see it in theaters w/ good sound. Thats it...off to bed. I think the fireworks they had afterwards burnt holes in my Corneas.