Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here. For the third time in recent weeks, my complaint about a major Hollywood release remains the same: overpopulation. Following on the heels of Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3, the newest Pirates of the Caribbean entry seems determined to cram as many characters and/or storylines in its confines as its nearly three-hour running time will contain. That being said, I enjoyed At World's End a great deal more than the previously mentioned offerings. The characters are a bit more interesting (if not partaicularly fleshed out), the various plots are better executed, and in terms of pure visual spectacle, this film blows all others (warning: pun approaching) out of the water. Since most of At World's End was shot at the same time as Dead Man's Chest, its not as impressive that the filmmakers find ways are getting nearly every single cast member from the previous film back on screen. That being said, some of the on-screen re-appearances seem a bit pointless and obligatory. I don't want to ruin any possible suspense about who's still standing at the end of the film, but I felt as if I spent too much of the film just noticing who had returned and who was new. The much-publicized addition of Chow Yun-Fat to the lineup as the much-scarred Chinese pirate Sao Feng is going to baffle as many people as it impresses. That's all I'm going to say. And as for the worst keep secret of the film--the cameo by Keith Richards--let's just say that the guy has been entertaining folks for decades, so there no reason to think he'd do any different here. He doesn't disappoint. His very presence drops the room temperature 20 degrees, he's so cool. Make no mistake, my body and soul belong to anything in the Pirates movies having to do with Davy Jones (once again played to perfection by Bill Nighy) and the crew of the Flying Dutchman. The saving grace of the previous film was the fact that you could shut your brain off from the confusing plot and simply give yourself over the awe-inspiring look of the undersea horror show of that ship and crew. Thankfully, Jones and company are all over At World's End (we even get a brief glimpse of what Jones looks like without the squid head), and it never gets old. Less impressive is the meeting of the pirate brethren, which includes a couple of women as well. Sure, we get to see all the world's pirate leaders gathered for this once-in-a-lifetime event, but nothing really comes of it and none of these new pirates do much more than makes scary faces and overact in each other's general direction. It's like a scene out of a Monty Python film. When the film's impressive final battle sequence takes place, it seems that all the other pirate leaders simply sit around on their vessels watching The Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman go at it while spinning around in a massive whirlpool. It looks great, but when director Gore Verbinski shows us the other pirates watching and cheering on, it's a bit anticlimactic. I'm gone this far without mentioning any of the main characters. To be honest, I never really cared that much who Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) ended up with. I'd always assumed that if she even bothered to pick between the clean-cut Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), she'd lean toward Turner simply because a pirate with a steady girlfriend or wife kind of defeats the purpose of being a pirate. Imagine my surprise when I actually got mildly invested in how her man-plight plays out. Geoffrey Rush's Capt. Barbossa has always been one of the favorite mainstays of this franchise. I think he's funnier than Depp without relying nearly as much on a campy performance, and he really comes into his own here. That being said, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have done something almost unfathomable with Sparrow's character: they've made him just a bit more insane. As the film opens, we see Sparrow in a kind of odd version of purgatory imagining himself captaining the Black Pearl with a crew made up entirely of versions of himself. It's a hilarious bit, and Jack seeing incarnations of himself is a recurring device throughout At World's End. There's a very funny variation of the devil on one shoulder, angel on the other. There's even a Flying Dutchman crew member-version of Sparrow that is able to remove and play with his own brain. Tasty! Returning plot elements involving the devious East India Trading Company or the lovely and increasingly spooky Tia Dalma/Calypso (Naomie Harris) didn't really grab hold of me or play out in anything resembling an interesting manner. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this movie is the establishment of a romantic history between Calypso and Davy Jones that goes absolutely no where. But let's face it, you don't go to a Pirates of the Caribbean film for the plot or character development. Still, after about the 15th double-cross, I simply tuned out of the story and waiting for the next special effects set piece, of which there are many. And it is absolutely possible to enjoy At World's End simply on that level. For those who demand something with a bit more depth, don't hold your breath. In all likelihood, this film is going to shatter all box office records (even recent ones set by Spider-Man 3), and I'm okay with that. Despite its admittedly nonsensical story, I was a fan of the previous Pirates film, and this latest entry is about on par with that one…just longer and with three times as many characters. My advice: Don't drink too much soda before this one begins. Capone As Emperor Joseph II said, "There's Simply Too Many Notes, Cut A Few Out and it's Perfect!" Send me your notes!
