Hola all. Massawyrm here.
So just how awesome is Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End? So awesome. It's an epic. An absolute epic. The ass kicking joyride that you've been crossing your fingers and hoping it will be. But already audiences are beginning to become divided. On one side there are people like Harry and myself who sat through this film giggling like little school boys and loving every second as if Disney had paid to have us manually serviced while we watched it (and I'm not saying that they didn't.) And then there are the other people. Violent radicals whose opinions so differ that they share nothing in common with the likes of me or Harry. These people thought the film was merely…good. GASP!
And there's no mistaking where the line of demarcation is. This movie is DENSE. Despite its nigh three hour running time, they make sure to pack every last moment with as many plot twists, double crosses and set pieces as they can get away with. And frankly I can understand the sensory overload. While being a loud, visually stunning summer blockbuster – this movie will not for one second let you turn your brain off. Throw that notion right out the window. You are not going to kick back and watch you some pirates. You're going to have to keep up. You're going to have to pay attention. And you're going to have to be ready to see this as it really is. The final chapter of a three-part fantasy epic.
And that's where things begin to get really kooky. You see, this is the film where everything gets ratcheted up a bit. The first two films never bothered to tell you, or hell, even hint to you that this was a fantasy epic. But it is. All the pieces fit. It just so happens that it is in this film that they tell you some really important details about, oh, EVERYONE'S motivations that begins to let all of the pieces fit together. And it isn't until this film that you realize just how BIG a story they're really telling. How each of these characters is on their own path into legend. How each of their destiny's are so closely tied together.
And to make things even more complicated, every single character in this film has their own, distinctly different motivation that leads them toward the huge endgame. And I'm not talking about simple acting terminology character motivation. I mean every last character has their own plan that they're trying to put into motion. Some compliment, others conflict, and they all lead to a no holds barred huge cluster fuck series of double crosses, backstabs and surprise allegiances in the mother of all pirate battle climaxes.
And for some, that might be a bit much. They want a much simpler story. And there's nothing wrong with that. What they're doing here you've never quite seen before. Not on film. This is all the stuff of a really great novel trilogy, jam packed into a film series. There are character endings here that you could have never predicted, arcs that when fully realized prove to be ballsy, original choices. Not at all the type of thing you expect from summer fare. And especially not the type of thing you'd ever expect out of Disney.
No. This is different. The whole series changes here. Everything you think you know about these characters or what's about to happen is probably wrong. And then there're story elements so large that you can't even begin to fathom how radically the PotC universe is about to change. It just gets HUGE. It gets, yes, epic. Those of you that love this are gonna be a lot like me and spend hours afterwards digesting the entire series – noting how character moments from the earlier films now mean a hell of a lot more. How you can actually look at both of the previous films in a completely different light. Hell, you HAVE to look at part two completely differently. Turns out at least one of the characters wasn't being as forthcoming about what they were up to as we were led to believe. Which may actually mean part 1 has a slightly more sinister twist as well.
And that's pretty fucking awesome. For those of you that read Harry's review, I gotta say he isn't totally out of line with his Star Wars analogy. While I certainly don't feel that this is this generations Star Wars (like it or not, that distinction belongs to Harry Potter, which is what will litter the pop culture in the songs, movies and books of the generation that grew up reading and watching it) - this film does to this series what Return of the Jedi did to Star Wars and Empire. Remember what it was like to find out that Leia and Luke were siblings? Or that Han wasn't really dead? Or when Anakin broke through years of evil to save his son, forcing you to re-examine Vader altogether? Those are the kinds of changes you can expect to the PotC series. Everything is not entirely what it seems.
And explaining that will lose some folks who will just wish it was either a bit more spread out or just a bit simpler. And they're gonna think it is merely good. But, if you're like me, this is gonna be a movie that makes your whole damned summer. I LOVE this movie. I LOVE this trilogy. Everything comes full circle and every last character is given an ending they have whole-heartedly earned. And what's great about this ending is that there are enough loose ends to warrant making another film (or hell, another trilogy) without setting it up as if they NEED to. Some folks just won't be back. They just can't be - this is the last you're gonna see of them. But others could be. And nothing will make you roll your eyes about it.
Highly Recommended. Really. On its worst day this is still a really good film.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Avast, me mateys! I've got yer plank right here!
