I tried to stay away from all the press reviews before I went to see this third entry into Disney's Pirates of The Caribbean franchise, largely because of the effect reviews had on my experience of Spiderman 3. Unfortunately I did cave in and what I read was not good, seems as though being a third installment makes you a target for negative press.
So as I sat down in a packed theatre (and I do mean packed, screenings were sold out all day !) I didnt have the highest expectations and expected an experience similar to that of watching any of the Star Wars prequels, basically a load of hype prior and huge dissapointment post viewing. Pleasently though I was surprised and as the film finished I did walk out of the cinema having felt entertained.......but in a silly saturday morning cartoon show kind of way, it was all about the spectacle.
The special effects are great and the action set pieces well thought out although the action is never ramped up to the level that it was in Dead Man's Chest, which holds the crown for action/adventure spectacle. In fact it isn't until the end of the film that there is a big battle sequence for sfx fans to salivate over, but it's worth the wait and very well done. Fans of Indiana Jones etc will be pleased with the level of action in this film.
Aesthetically it's as gorgeous as the previous two, with exotic locations and amazing cinematography but thats a given considering the 300 million dollar budget, it's hardly going to look dreadful now is it ? The partly CGI character of Davey Jones is still a techincal marvel and very believable (well as much as a half human squid man can be) and the trip to Davey Jones's locker is well handled with some good effects, done in a very Monty Pythonesque way.
Acting wise surprisngly Keira Knightley is on form in this one, displaying some range for once, I actually cared for her character and her relationship with Orlando Bloom's. Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow is charming as ever but I can't help but think Depp could do this role in his sleep and is somehow on auto pilot in this film, providing the odd chuckle but not being the most memorable thing about the film ( unlike he was in the first installment), I just wasnt that impressed . Geoffrey Rush's character takes Sparrow's place as the most fun character onscreen, chewing up scenery as he goes, he seems like he's having a great time and as such is a joy to watch. Another good performance is Bill Nighy's Davey Jones, who amazingly injects a great deal of emotion into what is essentially a cgi character, you actually feel a connection to that character and he becomes less of a cartoon villain and one with relatable/human motives. Personally I'm not a big fan of Orlando Bloom's acting talent (if there is any) and thankfully he isn't in the film that much save for the end, and I can't say his character is missed all that much but is needed for Knightley's character to play off for romantic purposes. Speaking of which the triangle of love between Depp, Knightley and Bloom's characters has been dropped in this installment, save for the odd line here and there, which I feel is a shame as I enjoyed that conflict in the previous two as it heightend the drama. A much publicized cameo by Keith Richards is present but not nearly as entertaining as you would expect, he's very passive and not as manic as you would expect, perhaps he was on a downer, lol but he does have a good line regarding Sparrow's mother.
This third installment had the responsibility to tie up all the loose ends left from the second installment and it manages to do that but I feel that it was overstuffed, especially with one character double crossing another only to be double crossed again etc it became a tad confusing and tired at points. Less use of this kind of plot device would of helped a lot but overall most questions are answered effectively by the script.
Fans of the series won't largely be dissapointed and neither will the cinema going public, it's a nice distraction as far as big budget fare goes these days and a million times better than trash like Spiderman 3. The series though has run out of steam/ good ideas, so I hope this is the final farewell. My cynical voice tells me though that the amount of money this picture is going to make for Disney will insure that the franchise won't be put to rest just yet but they won't be having any of my money when the next installment is released !