pirates3

THE FLICK: Where to begin? Actually, the question that must have been plaguing director Gore Verbinski is how the hell do we end this thing! It was obvious at the end of part two – Dead Man’s Chest – that the screenplay by Ted Eliott and Terry Rossio had been pushed, pulled and stretched beyond all narrative comprehension. Their cinematic eyes were bigger than their stomachs, and the playful, swashbuckling adventures of Captain Jack and his crew had evolved into a dark, dreary, convoluted series of backstabbing character arcs that were left completely unresolved. It would take nothing short of a miracle for the final chapter to pull all the strings together for a satisfying conclusion. And while producer Jerry Bruckheimer may be the most powerful man in Hollywood, he’s no miracle worker. In fact, the Pirates franchise, as financially successful as it is, may be the one project he let get away from him creatively. For one can’t imagine that such a savvy filmmaker (he turned Nicolas Cage into an action hero, for Christ’s sake!) would allow his production to become so overstuffed with plot that there was no room left for popcorn movie enjoyment. On a mission to rescue Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the surreal trappings of Davy Jones’ Locker, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), and on-again off-again lovebirds Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightly) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) sail to the end of the world in hopes of convening a pirates council to fight off the English navy who blackmailed the monstrous crew of the Flying Dutchman to sail in their services. That would be plot enough for most movies, but each character in the film has their own personal agenda or romantic issue to resolve, which leads to a full 3-hour cruise including credits. It’s seems odd to say about such a visually spectacular film, but At World’s End plays much better at home, especially if you have a big enough screen to take in the swirling maelstrom of a finale or the detailed Shanghai sets. High expectations and the marathon running time made for an impatient and disappointing theatrical experience. But on home video one is more apt to appreciate the humorous touches and witty asides that were overwhelmed by the film’s ambition. And a second viewing only makes one appreciate Depp’s performance that much more. After being cast adrift in the first sequel, he is much better served this time around, anchoring the film with just the sort of drunken monkey appeal that made the character “sequel-worthy” to begin with. As for the rest of the cast, they seem to be performing in something based on Dostoevsky rather than a Disneyland theme park ride. And Verbinski’s visual style, while peppered with some very cool “Gilliam-esque” moments, is depressingly grim. In short, this is not the feel good, gift wrapped pirate booty many hoped it would be; even the Swann / Turner romance is wrapped up with a healthy helping of tragedy. Still, as with any film that overreaches this grandiosely, there is much to enjoy in all the filmmaker’s folly. In its noble attempt to give us all our money’s worth, At World’s End ends up overtipping by about 30%. And it’s hard to criticize that sort of cinematic generosity too harshly. THE FEATURES: If you thought the movie was packed to the rafters, wait until you take a gander at the extras. On Blu-ray the interactive experience is hosted by the Jolly Roger character from the previous discs and every feature is presented in full hi-def...very nice! Surprisingly, there’s no commentary here, so disc one simply includes the feature film and a 5-minute Blooper Reel while the bulk of the action proceeds on disc two. In total there is close to 90-minutes worth of featurettes here broken into various categories - The Maelstrom, The Music, profiles of new cast addition Chow Yun-Fat and Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richard, etc. Well produced, in-depth and genuinely interesting, there is much to learn from here and none of the segments overstay their welcome. A few Deleted Scenes and the Theatrical Trailer complete the standard two-disc package. But on Blu-ray the experience continues with Inside the Maelstrom, an on-set tour that branches off into multiple venues of interest controlled by the viewer’s selections. Your player remembers which featurettes you’ve visited before and keeps a checklist so nothing repeats. There’s close to an additional 45-minutes of material here which, if the awesome 1080p picture and lossless sound didn’t already convince you, makes for an easy recommended upgrade to the hi-def version.