Mixed reviews for At World’s End
While the third installment Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, At World’s End, rakes in the dollars, critics are predictably mixed. Considering how “mixed” I was about Dead Man’s Chest, some of these more negative reviews have severely dampened my excitement to see it.
Let’s start with this line by Dana Stevens in Slate…
Adrift in the windless seas of its 168-minute running time, the viewer passes through confusion and boredom into a state of Buddhist passivity.
The Newark Star-Ledger (my local paper) gave it one and a half stars. Critic Lisa Rose had this to say…
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” creates the sense of being in a theme park, though it’s not the experience you might be expecting. Sitting through the movie isn’t like being on a thrill ride. It’s more like waiting for one.
Hours pass with little excitement. Costumed characters vamp and caper in a hopeless effort to quell the tedium.
USA Today’s Claudia Puig said…
Just before the film’s end, a drunken pillager growls out: “Take what you can. Give nothing back.” Mindful of a predecessor that raked in more than $1 billion worldwide, that greedy directive might have been the mantra of the studio execs who conceived of this sorry spectacle.
But they are not all bad. Some are slightly better. Here’s Stephen Hunter from the Washington Post…
Funner, biggerer, brighterer, bolderer, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” is not only okay, it may even be close to good. A lavish spectacle illuminated by Johnny Depp’s swishing pirate captain, the movie has its dull moments, but not many.
So why am I writing about all the not-so-glowing reviews on Pirates? Truth be told, I am very excited about seeing this film, and maybe this is my way of calming my own expectations. I was somewhat disappointed with Dead Man’s Chest. The Curse of the Black Pearl was one of my all-time favorite films and the second film didn’t hold the type re-watch-ability the first one had. I chalked up my lack of excitement over Dead Man’s Chest to the film being only one part of a greater idea and At World’s End would bring it all together. If it doesn’t, I’ll really be let down.