I should say that I have a bit of a bias toward the 'Pirates' movies, seeing as how I have a cousin named after them. And I saw the latest, 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' (trailer), on opening weekend. That said, what I enjoyed about the third installment was more the idea of the first one than what I was seeing in the third. The original, 'Curse of the Black Pearl', was fantastic -- it was an action movie that dared to care more about being funny and enjoyable than having the best effects. It's star, Johnny Depp, wasn't really a hero; he wore a lot of makeup and acted like Keith Richards before he became a walking corpse. Perhaps its fitting that the third movie features Richards in all his cadaver-like glory. This third film surpassed its predecessor, 'Dead Man's Chest', in that it seemed to recognize the outcry from some over the seeming lack of humor, but it doesn't go far enough. The later two, which are essentially just one extremely long movie (seriously, they're together five hours long) that was split, begin a preposterous and confusing story revolving around a squid-like Davy Jones coming back to claim a debt from Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. This is mated with the East India Trading Company trying to bring down piracy.
The plot of the first movie was, to me, kind of superfluous. It was there and it kept humming along, but it was the journey more than the destination. There is so much going on and so many plot lines among Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom -- not to mention the myriad of supporting players -- that there's not a whole lot of time for the goofiness. Perhaps when the movie starts with long line of men, women and children heading to the gallows for piracy, I should have taken that as a hint. Throughout the movie (in which I was constantly checking my watch), I kept wishing that they would all quit being so serious and have some fun. But they didn't and I felt even the ending was unsatisfying. That said, I thought that this one did make an effort to crack more jokes and for that I've got to give them credit and rank it higher than the last one.
Of course the point of this movie was not to impress sophisticated moviegoers -- it's meant to make a lot of money, which it has, and sell toys. Unlike a lot of blockbuster series, at least this one has a worthy link in its chain. If two unimpressive sequels are part of the deal from which we get one fantastically fun summer movie and one of the great popcorn movie characters of recent years in Captain Jack, I'll take that deal any day.
Grade: (a generous) B-
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