Pirates of the Caribbean AT WORLD'S END

Last night my family and I went to the cheap theatre in Humboldt and watched two excellent movies. We saw Spiderman 3 for the second time at 7 pm and then PIRATES 3 at 10 pm. First of all, it was an extremely long movie! The movie didn't get out until 1:05 am!!! But, wow, was it worth it!!!

You may read some reviews that say the storyline was convulsed and twisted so much that it wasn't that great; but I'm here to say that because the story was original, unique, and took some very unexpected turns, it gained my vote as the best of the Pirates movies!!! And I do not give that vote out lightly. When I saw the second Pirates movie, I thought that it wasn't that great, and nothing could compare to the first. Well...before watching the third installment, I watched both movies again, and I changed my vote. Before watching the third one, the second was my favorite. The first was a fantastic introduction with a simple but fun storyline, but that's just it - it was too simple, too slow, too drawn out. In the second movie, the plot was greater, bigger, and done better on the screen. In the second one, there was much more action, and now I believe that it was even funnier than the first one. At times the first one puts me to sleep because of its drawn out nature, but the second one has always kept me glued. Therefore, the second was better than the first.

And now onto the third one. WOW!!! What can be said about this one? This was the most unique, the most twisted, the most entertaining, the funniest by far, and definitely the longest but in no way boring at all. The introduction of Jack Sparrow (excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow) in this one was the most entertaining. Sure, it is strange and messed up in a way, but it was hilarious! I found myself laughing more at Jack's antics in this third installment than I ever did in the first one. He was so crazy, mad, insane, and that's why we love him!!! But even better than that was the fact that many of the other characters were given funny lines and funny antics as well. This made the movie very entertaining and gave it laugh-out-loud hilarity. Great job on the humor!

As far as the special effects! To me it seemed like I had revisited the amazing effects of the Lord of the Rings movies. Fantastic scenes with such grandeur that it will have you staring at it with mouth agape. Such scenes included a ship floating on dark water that reflected the stars in the sky, making it look like the ship was flying; Shipwreck Cove where the entire place was made of wrecked ships piled to the top of the sky; the Black Pearl underwater; the Maelstrom and the amazing 30-minute long fight scene involving numerous battles, a great romantic moment, and a shocking scene that I still can't get out of my mind. This movie has it all! How much more realistic could you get with the special effects of today?

But as some reviews have said, the story was hard to follow, the plot was never discernible, and there was no telling who was good and who was bad. Actually, this is quite true. There were so many betrayals among the characters that you couldn't keep track of who was betraying who and for what reasons. But I don't believe you can put blame on this movie just yet. You have to take into account that some of the characters' voices were hard to follow, and maybe when the movie comes out on DVD, it will be easier to follow with captions. Only after watching Dead Man's Chest with captions could I ever understand Tia Dalma. The Chinese Pirate Lord, Tia Dalma, and even Barbossa were hard to follow in this one, and there were even times when the main characters - Jack, Will, Elizabeth - were hard to understand. In truth, there was so much going on that the plot did seem a bit rushed in the middle of the movie, but as it neared the end, it panned out and we got the real story of this third film. We finally find out who Davy Jones' lover is - her name is Calypso, the goddess of the sea - and some other issues surrounding the chest of Davy Jones are also revealed. So while the plot, or rather the betrayals, are hard to follow, the story still sparkles and shines.

And probably the most memorable moment of the whole movie was the shocking ending. In a way you could see it coming, but seeing it actually happen was such a shock. When it happened, I could hear the whole theatre take in a breath. Everyone's mouths were agape for several minutes as the scene unfolded. I still can't believe it ended that way. It was twisted, original, shocking, great, fantastic, sad, and even unsettling. WOW!!! I am still thinking about the ending, and the more I think about this movie, the more I want to go back to the theatre to see it again!

But there will always be people who are "Movie Pure-ists," those who are hung up on the first film, the book, the comic, or whatever was used as a backdrop to the movie. But if you look at this film as a fun story with great "Jack" hilarity in it and action galore that looks fantastic, you won't be disappointed. That's why I like the Pirates Franchise, and that is why I love the third one the best!!!

So...PIRATES 3 was a great movie! Don't let any critics tell you otherwise! In my opinion, it had more hilarity, more action, more plot twists, and more of Jack Sparrow's craziness than the other two. You definitely have to see it! So what are you waiting for? GO!!! (Oh, and stay AFTER the CREDITS!!! Once again, there is an extra scene, but unlike the second one, this one has real relevance and cools the shocking ending down a bit.)

PIRATES 3: AT WORLD'S END - The Best Pirate Movie Yet!!!

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: AT WORLD'S END Trailer