Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Concludes Trilogy With a Bang

Wednesday night, I sat with my eyes glued to the television screen as the fate of Charlie Pace, one of my most beloved characters on LOST, hung in the balance. Twenty-four hours later, I stared at a much larger screen as another Lord of the Rings alumnus undertook a dangerous mission. There was even swimming involved. Yet another bond between Dom Monaghan and Orlando Bloom. If I hadn't already seen On a Clear Day, I could rent that tomorrow and make it a trilogy of harrowing viewing experiences featuring water and young former Middle-earth residents. But Orlando is the order of the day. Orlando, Keira, Geoffrey... oh, and a fellow by the name of Johnny Depp. Yes, the Black Pearl set sail for its third - and likely final - adventure in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and I was on deck to watch the voyage.

At World's End gets off to a grimly grotesque beginning with lengthy lines of imprisoned pirates being led to a row of gallowses as stodgy British officials stand by. The condemned are surprisingly resigned, offering no resistance, but one lad, still in possession of a hauntingly high choirboy voice, steps up to his spot singing the traditional pirate anthem, and soon all the others have joined in, a gesture of solidarity that sparks an uprising, a last stand of the pirates from around the world against the evils of the East India Trading Company, as led by the sadistically sinister Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander).

The dreariness of the opening gives way to a swashbuckling swordfight involving our old friends Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Bloom) and the recently re-animated Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). A ship and crew is what they're after, since all three want to sail off in search of Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), whose last encounter with Elizabeth resulted in his death and banishment into Davy Jones' Locker, which for him is a trippy sort of purgatory in which he finds himself commanding a crew of insubordinate clones of himself in one of the film's funniest scenes.

Eventually, of course, Jack is reunited with his comrades, at which point it's off to the pirate council along with eight other key representatives of various geographical ranges. And then things really start to get tricky. There's a whole new cast of characters to keep track of - or not, since it really is the carryover characters we're interested in. The oft-thwarted romance between Elizabeth and Will takes a bit of a backseat for a while in favor of the tragic tale of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and Calypso (Naomie Harris), the sea goddess whose powers the pirates are hoping to release by coming together as one. Because she's so temperamental, there's no guarantee she will agree to ransack Beckett's boats, but it looks like she's their best shot.

With all the characters often motivated by different things, this third installment feels a bit muddled, just as the second did. But the constant action, rousing score, barrage of effects and solid cast make it entertaining, if still not quite as brilliant as Curse of the Black Pearl. It's considerably darker than that first film, and not nearly as hilarious as the trailers suggest, though there are plenty of knee-slapping moments throughout the movie, most involving Jack's faithful crewmembers Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook), the feisty monkey Jack, the strangely elegant Barbossa or Captain Sparrow himself, still weaving drunkenly through his scenes with slurred speech and upper mouth constantly engaged in rabbit-like twitching. There's nothing really to compare with Jack's grand entrance in the first film or his wheel-running antics in the second, but the ship full of Sparrows is wildly amusing, and the extra Jacks continue to pop up over the course of the rest of the movie, along with, on a couple of occasions, Jack's dear old dad, played by Keith Richards in a nice little homage to the inspiration behind our favorite drunken captain.

Beckett remains a consistently creepy presence, seeming far more inherently evil than the swindling but charming Barbossa; Elizabeth's father (Jonathan Pryce) and her former fiance (Jack Davenport) both have fairly brief but crucial roles to play in the plot. Nighy and Harris still have exceptionally annoying voices - or is that just me? The film ends in what feels like a conclusive place for each of our heroes, with some of Jack's funniest lines coming in the last few minutes. Elizabeth and Will, having battled their own demons all along, arrive at an interesting point before we leave them, not quite as ecstatically happily ever after as they could be, perhaps, but in a way that feels satisfying. Incidentally, it's worth it to sit through the credits, since once again patient moviegoers are rewarded with a scene at the end...

I'd rate this at about the same level as the second movie, delivering the sort of zest that fans are seeking but never quite capturing the charm, wit and plotting of the original. But three hours on the high seas with Johnny Depp is always a welcome way to spend an evening, and if they do decide to go for a fourth installment, you can be sure I'll be on board for that as well.

Probably Not the Pride and Joy of Austen Devotees

A few years back, I was introduced to the Jane Austen classic Sense and Sensibility. It quickly became one of my favorite books, and Emma Thompson's masterful adaptation one of my favorite movies. My experience with Austen has been limited otherwise, so when I heard about the new version of Pride and Prejudice hitting movie theaters, I was sufficiently intrigued to want to see it. I finally got a chance last week, and while I know enough Austen devotees to know that I should probably be head over heels for the story, this particular version failed to grab me. It was enjoyable enough but didn't impress me nearly as much as Sense and Sensibility. I think it's time I tried my luck with the mini-series.

This latest version of Pride and Prejudice stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett, a feisty young woman in no hurry to be married off. Her mother (Brenda Blethyn) has other ideas. Elizabeth is one of five daughters, and Mrs. Bennett would like nothing better than to see them all settled with rich and well-respected husbands. She's the right mix of irritating and well-intentioned to be comical but not repugnant. She's annoying, to be sure, but there's little doubt that she cares about her daughters. Still, Mr. Bennett (Donald Sutherland) is a much more sympathetic figure. We get the sense he's spent his life being bullied by his wife, and he mostly tries to keep a low profile and not stir up her anger, though he is willing to step out of his submissive role when the subject calls for it. He and Elizabeth have an especially close relationship, so he is unwilling to let his wife force their daughter into a decision that would make her miserable.

Over the course of the film, Elizabeth has three potential suitors. The first is the laughably unsuitable Mr. Collins (Tom Hollander), a short, nervous preacher desperate for a wife, though it doesn't much matter who. Then there is Mr. Wickham (Rupert Friend), a dashing guardsman who Elizabeth rather likes until his actions betray him as a libertine. The third and most important is Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), whose dour demeanor and insulting remarks upon their first meeting cause Elizabeth to loathe him for life, or so she swears. Yet for all her indignation, there is an undeniable attraction and the lingering possibility that she has misjudged his character.

Secondary to Elizabeth's romantic trials are those of her sister Jane (Rosamund Pike), who is certain she has found instant love with Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods), an affable and clumsy redhead who is a good friend of Mr. Darcy. Their relationship progresses smoothly, despite the disapproval of Mr. Bingley's sister Caroline (Kelly Reilly) - a character every bit as aggravating as Sense and Sensibility's Fanny Dashwood but not as funny - until he suddenly backs off, leaving Jane distraught and Elizabeth furious. It's perhaps a fault of this movie that I am fonder of Mr. Bingley, who strikes me as a bit of a cross between Fred of A Christmas Carol as well as Edward of Sense and Sensibility, than I am of Mr. Darcy, who is supposed to be one of the most compelling romantic characters in all of literature. My favorite character, though, is the beleaguered Mr. Bennett, and truth be told I'm more moved by his relationship with Elizabeth than Mr. Darcy's.

The film is pretty-looking, though again, I prefer the cinematography in Sense and Sensibility and the sense of intimacy that is achieved there. Here, we spend more time in settings in which there are many people, and as a result I found it harder to connect to individuals. Additionally, while I usually have no difficulty understanding British accents, even in period pieces, I caught myself having to strain here. I know that Pride and Prejudice is considered one of the great works of literature, British or otherwise, and I know that adaptations often fall short, so I'm not going to judge the book on the movie. But in the immortal words of Randy Jackson, "It was just a-ight for me."