Yo ho, haul together, hoist the colors high!

Normally, I'm too cheap to go to the movies in theaters, unless it's something both my husband and I are really dying to see and that we think would be better in the theater. Lord of the Rings, for example, made the cut. I can think of 3 or 4 movies since then that have.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was not a movie I was planning to go see in the theater. I thought the first one was ok, and sort of muddled my way through 2/3 of the 2nd one. I remember something about a swordfight on a giant wooden wheel, but other than that, I was pretty confused. I was also made wary by many reviewers who dismissed the movie as more summer blockbuster fare: Rotten Tomatoes gives it 47% on the tomatometer, making it a rotten tomato.

But my friend K. asked me to go, and so I thought, "What the heck? I do like movie popcorn." And, even though the movie was quite long (168 minutes), I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it.

That's not to say that the movie didn't have its problems. It reminded me quite a bit of the third Matrix movie in terms of plot--you really had to have taken notes during the first two movies for the third to make any sense. People coming back from the dead, special pirate laws, complicated relationships whose explanation was in a previous movie, multiple switching of allegiances--it was all there. The first big fight scene in Singapore really summed up the movie quite nicely: three groups of people are all fighting, and you have no idea why they're fighting or who's on what side. I asked a few clarifying questions, but after a while, gave up to enjoy what the movie does well.

We'll get to that in a minute, but for now, my only other big issue with the movie is the way the Elizabeth/Will relationship is handled. Yes, I know it's supposed to be an action movie and the focus isn't on romance, but if the movie is going to pretend that their relationship is complex and deep, then it needs to follow through on that. Throughout the movie, they talk about how they have issues with trust, but none of those issues are resolved before the relationship is solidified (in a completely ridiculous scene, by the way...undermined a lot of the nice things I was thinking about the movie at the time). And quite frankly, the ending made me mad and seemed like a lousy, unfair-to-the-viewer way to get Will out of the decision-making jam that he's stuck in.

These plot/relationship points aside, the movie does a lot of things very, very well, the biggest being the special effects and cinematography. Even though the movie presents a lot of ridiculous things--ships coming out of the ocean, guys with fish heads, monstrous maelstroms in the middle of the ocean--it's all completely believable within the realm of the movie because these special effects are woven seamlessly into the film. The cinematography is also really amazing. There are a lot of shots of wide expanses of ocean that are, well, inspiring. The swordfight scenes are spectacular, particularly the one between Davy Jones and Captain Sparrow. And near the end of the movie, there is a scene involving Lord Cutler Beckett that's artistic and moving and almost makes you feel sorry for him.

The soundtrack does a lot to heighten the effects of the cinematography. In one scene where Elizabeth, Barbarossa, and Jack Sparrow are all walking across a sandbar to meet with the "enemy" leaders, the camera pans out and the music crescendos, making an overlong, boring walk into an extremely dramatic buildup.

But perhaps the best reason to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is Johnny Depp's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow. I know a lot has been written about what a great job he does, and how no one else could really pull off the role convincingly, but it bears repeating here, particularly because in this third installment, we see Sparrow interacting with his hallucinations of himself. Depp interacting with Depp is very well done, and quite hilarious. Keith Richards is also great in a small cameo as Sparrow's dad, and especially funny because Depp has cited him as inspiration for his performance as Sparrow.

So yes, the critics are right--Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is traditional summer blockbuster fare, light on the plot and character development and heavy on the action sequences and special effects. But it does those things very well, and that makes it worth watching, especially in the theater, where you will get the full effect.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5