Pirates of Caribbean: At World’s End

“Playing this character and being this character and delivering this character will always bring a smile to my face,” said Johnny Depp on his last day of filming “Pirates of Caribbean: At World’s End,” released in 2007. Depp does need to smile because Captain Jack Sparrow has become one of cinema’s most memorable rascals.

Remember what happened to Captain Sparrow at the end of “Dead Man’s Chest?” Wow! The famous creature Kraken got him in its tentacles. In the beginning of “At World’s End,” we see Captain Sparrow stuck in Davy Jones’ really surrealistic jail. There is nothing to worry about because he has help coming. Captain Sparrow desperately needs to help pirates from all over the world in their fight with the East India Company and the plan to destroy piracy in the ocean forever. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and even Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) hope to bring the Nine Lords of the Pirate Brethren to fight against the power-hungry trading company, which now rules the Flying Dutchman along with its evil captain, Davy Jones, reprised by Bill Nighy. After getting charts and a ship from Chinese pirate Sao Feng, played by Chow Yun Fat, the rescue team frees Sparrow, and the war to make the world safe again for pirates start.

Betty Jo Tucker asked in her review, “Why do we want these outrageous scalawags to win? After all, they are an unscrupulous bunch who can’t even trust each other.” Executive producer Mike Stenson gives a good explanation. “When you’re growing up, you want to be a pirate,” he says. “You want to do something that’s about freedom, no rules, not dealing with authority.” Stenson says that as we get older, we have to always deal with authority and agreement, so it’s great to spend a couple of hours experiencing and rooting for “the darker, swashbuckling, more independent version” of ourselves.

We always do cheer. Tucker said, “Granted, it’s easy to hope the snooty, villainous Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Company will finally get his comeuppance, even if it takes a bunch of no-so-perfect pirates to trim his sails -- especially when Capt. Jack Sparrow is aboard. Fortunately, our unkempt gold-toothed hero gets more screen time here than in Dead Man’s Chest, making At World’s End an even tastier treat for avid Depp fans like me.”

Included in this fight are the usual cast members of the franchise – plus some new characters who add to the sword fighting fun. It’s almost too much in one movie, but I’m not complaining. Tucker said, “I’m willing to suffer through a film’s numerous plotlines and out-of-control action as long as I can watch Johnny Depp weave his Jack Sparrow magic.”

Before this confusing film ends it’s almost three-hour running time, incredible special effects and amazing set pieces fill the screen. Satisfyingly, a lot of mocking humor corrects the action intensity, and the look of the movie is great to look at. Tucker ended her review by saying, “But it’s Captain Jack Sparrow who steals the show once again -- and I hope not for the last time.”

I actually saw this film in theaters and I found myself really enjoying it. Even though this may be considered a step down from the previous installments, I still liked this movie a lot. If you have seen the other “Pirates” movies and want to see this one, by all means go ahead. I don’t think it will hurt anyone who wants to see this franchise, but if you don’t like the sequels, I understand. However, I still find myself thoroughly enjoying the franchise, and I think everyone else will if they give it a chance.

This is not the last film in the franchise, as everyone might have guessed. Stay tuned next week to see the next review in “Pirates of the Caribbean Month.”