2 out of 5

Director: Gore Verbinski

While maintaining the highlights of the previous two installments – some beautifully envisioned and masterfully captured insane compositions from Verbinski, awesome character acting and effective use of effects – the 3rd in the series nonetheless suffers a bit from trilogy-overkill as well as feeling only necessary as a conclusion and not necessary as a standalone film. Although part of 3 was shot simultaneously with 2, there is a definite difference in feeling between the two films. According to wikipedia, this might’ve been purposeful, as director Gore Verbinski saw film 2 as mostly plot and envisioned film 3 as a character piece. But this only half comes through. The camera does wish to be more grounded, it seems, but robbed of the freewheeling fantastical elements of film 2 curbs the fun as well, making the constant rush of water and rain and effects – while well done – seem at odds with the story instead of in support. Thankfully the script remains true to the dastardly dealings of pirates, never letting our dirty mates get too wholesome or proper, and even resolves the Will and Elizabeth plot well without getting too sappy. Alas, the story is running out of steam by this point, with the longest film from the series seeming like an extra chunk of happenings that couldn’t fit in film 2. But had this been handled with the precision or glee of the prior films, no problem. Alas, Verbinski’s friendship with producer Bruckheimer at this point seems to lend itself to some stock-feeling large scale sweeps of exteriors and ships, with the swirling camera of our last big effect drained of the personality Verbinski had been able to inject into these blockbusters. Still – a valiant effort, and deserves acclaim for at least attempting to complete a story and not just throw big CGI robots on the screen.