Movies of the Week
Pirates 3, Fay Grim...
See it or skip it? This week's new movie releases By Paul Matthews
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
While Gore Verbinski’s third instalment in the bloated swashbuckling franchise is the most impressive visual feast of the bunch, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End spends most of its two and three-quarters hours gasping for air and answers. The film begins with Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp’s lovable but increasingly tiresome rapscallion) in Davy Jones’ Locker, a white-on-white purgatory where, in a nod to Being John Malkovich, he is harassed by a team of maddening doppelgängers. Luckily our old friends Will Turner (the milquetoast Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (the rail-thin Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush at his grating, scene-chewing worst) set off to save him. Explaining precisely how they go about doing this would require a thousand words and more than a few gargantuan logical and metaphysical leaps. If you emerged from the second film with even a scintilla of a clue what was going on, it’s guaranteed that you won’t this time. Though Keith Richards’ appearance as Daddy Sparrow infuses Pirates with some of the delicious naughtiness that helped the first film transcend the bland Hollywood norm, he comes and goes in a heartbeat. Depp’s charisma hasn’t been enough to keep Pirates afloat for a while now. Let’s hope audiences finally clue in so Jerry Bruckheimer will put a stop to the nonsense. SKIP IT
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is now playing at the Varsity (55 Bloor St. W.), Scotiabank Theatre (259 Richmond St. W.), Beach Cinemas (1651 Queen St. E.) and others.
