Pirates of the Caribbean:

At World’s End

 

Review by Bam

 

With some free time on my hands on a Friday afternoon,  I went to Long Beach’s Cinemark theatre (At the Pike) to observe a matinee showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

 

I must recommend the theater. It is freaking clean in a way that a new car is. The screens and auditoriums are huge and I do believe that they have digital projection showings.

 

Let’s get this review out of the way. I enjoyed this f’n movie.

I feel that I have to warn you. From the start of the movie I got the sense that we, the audience, would not be getting the same kind of reckless mirth we had come to expect. The movie’s intro credits echoed the beginning of the Curse of the Black Pearl altered slightly with coins from he East India trading company. This movie hits at a time when real life robber barons are just as scummy as the main baddie, Cutler Beckett.

 

 For those moviegoers that can suspend disbelief, At World’s End has the immense ability to make viewers it’s bitches. The movie slaps you with a sort of dissonance that echoes Elizabeth’s betrayal and runs through the resolution of that story arc. The requisite trip to Jones’s locker was similar to and yet simpler than the existential metaphors (a.k.a seemingly over-thought good/bad bullshit) of the Matrix trilogy. If your disposition is not kind to such metaphors beware.

 

 There was a scene that was out of place with guest star Chow Yun Fat’s Sao Feng and Elizabeth. I must admit I did get my suspension of disbelief jarred when the attack occurred. It felt really raw and possibly out of place. Perhaps a longer cut can be made. Seeing as how they cut 20 minutes out of the first edit. Some scenes did suffer from the junk shot syndrome (no not a kick in the balls but a cinematographic maneuver to avoid establishing shots.)

 

I won’t tell you about any more plot points. It needs to be a surprise. This movie, more than 99% of Hollywood’s drivel, relies upon it’s ability to keep people intrigued and even mind-fucked. It works because we have invested so much time with these characters. Hell by the time this movie is over we’ll have spent more time with Jack and the gang than Luke, Leia, and Han and a few hours short of what we spent walking Middle Earth with the fellowship.

 

I want you to not expect that characters will be easily placed back into their starting points in Curse of the Black Pearl. They get hurt and you will too. A character mentioned that the world feels smaller. Damn them because it does. Damn them because we, like Captain Jack Sparrow, Like Will Turner, Like Elizabeth Swann, want a world full of adventure, a world of humor, a world of true love. These are your silver screen friends showing off their best tricks and experience in the face of insurmountable odds. Go out and join them.