~ June Issue ~
 

Pirates of the Caribbean
By Varun Roperia
 

The much-anticipated third addition to The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy premiered May 24^th. Headed by director Gore Verbinski, the cast includes the returning Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swan. The movie also highlights the return of Captain Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush, along with Johnny Depp’s character, the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. A new antagonist was added in the form of Pirate Lord Sao Fang, played by Chow Yun-Fat.

            The plot of the story is convoluted and twisted, involving treachery and betrayal as alliances are formed and broken throughout the movie. Lord Beckett, now in possession of Davy Jones’ heart, has launched an all out war on pirates, with the Flying Dutchmen sinking dozens of pirate ships. The pirates, struggling to survive, have called an emergency conference known as the Brethren Court, where all of the nine pirate lords meet to confront this threat. Unfortunately, the late Captain Jack Sparrow was one of the nine, and without a successor, he must be present. Thus, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan, and Captain Barbossa set out on their ship to rescue Jack from the land of the dead. Once returned, the pirates make their last stand against the East India Trading Company, ultimately ending in the death of Davy Jones and the salvation of the pirates.

            Overall, the movie was not bad, and would be fairly straightforward if not for the number of duplicitous dealings that seemed to contradict each other followed by an hour filled with way too much dialogue and exposition that set up new developments leaving existing storylines unfinished. Another problem was the film’s pacing, which was too fast in some parts and far to slow in others. However, the final forty-five minutes of the movie made up for all of the fallings in the first part of the movie, where The Black Pearl and The Flying Dutchman duel in the middle of a giant whirlpool; director Verbinski took full advantage of his budget leading to an amazing effect laden action spectacle. The bottom line is that the third “Pirates” movie, despite taking its time getting to the action and somewhat redundant jokes, is worth watching, at the very least renting. However, be warned: some viewers were very disappointed, most probably due to the emotional ending involving Will Turner.