Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

The downward trend in the quality of this monstrous trilogy becomes truly unbearable in the third, and hopefully last, installment. Compared to the first part, the action sequences are unnecessarily bloated and computer-generated (the only well-shot scenes are the cannon shots). In contrast to the second part, the there’s less exaggeration and over-the-top wit from the main characters, who were not always truly funny, but the viewer was generally entertained. This can hardly be said about the third part, though. Apart from a few scenes, most situations are downright ridiculous and cliché, not to mention the incredibly muddled editing and sequence of scenes. I don't think we should incredulously shake our heads wondering if the director is serious, not even in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean. And here, there are not many restraints. (10/12/2007)

I didn't mind the length of the film, but rather its momentary lack of clarity. However, I was staring with my mouth open the whole time, waiting to see what would come next, and having fun. The conclusion of the trilogy is worthy if unnecessarily long. And I wasn’t able to properly orient myself in the plot until the second time I watched it.__P.S. Orlando Bloom is a fool.__P.P.S. Because of the final bombastic three-quarters of an hour, it never ceases to annoy me that I didn't see the third Pirates in the movie theater. (04/06/2009)

The plot twists and the chattiness of the trio of “Pirates” remind me a lot of our glorious parliament. Endless quarrels and fights, here played for the eye of the spectator, here meant seriously; on the outside they appear as irreconcilable rivals, but behind the scenes, out of the public eye, they even toast each other with "pirate rum", at one moment they are falling each other's arms, and the next they could stab each other in the back and nobody would be any wiser. The admirable precision of the production design and visual effects deserves praise, the final battle raises the overall impression a lot, but it's more than two hours long! With all that politics the creators deserve to be flogged. Or better still, they should be condemned to smell Jack Sparrow’s socks for two weeks in a row. (22/12/2007)

The opening sequence is great, the bouncing between disparate locations is filled with a satisfying amount of jokes, the production design is eye-pleasing and Geoffrey Rush is thoroughly enjoying his poorly explained comeback. But there’s something now that feels wrong. The story goes on for a frighteningly long time towards the first (saving Jack) and second (getting out of the place from which there is no escape) goals, foreshadowing the already genuinely scary middle part, which crumbles the awkwardly paced plot between a bunch of characters acting independently and often incomprehensibly, whose scheming and subterfuge may look clever on paper but in an expensive blockbuster are as ineffectual as a guy arriving for a first date with a haircut like Adolf Hitler. And of course, the whole thing drags on like a crowd of pensioners at a Kaufland discount. Fortunately, the ending is worth the wait and the carnage at sea looks as breathtaking as the technical innovations allow, which makes the amount of unnecessary filler all the more regrettable, as it doesn’t move the film anywhere and only bluntly pushes it to achieve the attribute of GREAT by, among other things, its own bloated runtime… (07/03/2017)

161 minutes??? Am I being punished for something? Spectacular and dazzling, and this time also awfully dull and dumb. The story, if there is a story to speak of, was literally oversaturated with characters. There were so many captains only Captain America and Captain Morgan were missing but no room left for a watchable plot. The screenplay was flat and annoying. The Will and Elizabeth romance ran through the whole film, but I couldn’t care less about it. Orlando Bloom played his usual self and Keira Knightley’s performance wasn't anything special either. Her motivational speech, for instance, was enough to put you to sleep. Johnny Depp’s acting seemed like he had heard that speech at least three times. Poor. (15/12/2016)