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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End isn’t one of your teeny-bopper movies. The dialogue was a bit drowned out by the action (sword-fighting, swashbuckling, and comedic scenes), but it definitely has rich content. I’d like to find a transcript of this movie later and do a more in-depth review. hehe… This feels like my literature classes back in college. FYI, my grad course isn’t literature. I’m taking Technology Management over at UP. Consider this my last inundation of pop culture before I disappear into the world of Financial Analysis for Technology Managers and Strategic Technology Planning.

Seriously, my friends and I were trying to analyze the plot, subplots, and mythological references, but it would require several viewings at least. At around 3 hours’ running time, I was getting numb all over with just one show. Unlike other pirate-themed movies, this was already the third installment in a series. We were even wondering if Disney would be making a fourth and if they would, what story would that cover–probably a solution to the ‘10 years at sea and one day one shore’ curse.

Edit: Saw entries in Wikipedia. Definitely no 4th! Aww… A scene was cut that was meant to explain the solution to the curse.

In a post-credits scene set ten years later, Elizabeth and her son, William Turner III, stand atop a cliff overlooking the sea. A green flash heralds Will’s return from the netherworld.

Critics were pointing out inadequacies in plot development and this was reinforced by the fact that some scenes felt like they were too stretched out and some scenes needed more time. Take into consideration that the characters all had different accents with a complicated storyline that had to tie-in with the previous two movies, we get a long intertwined plot that needs a resolution before the three hours are up.

As opposed to Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, and X-men, Pirates is an original story (as far as I know) and it lends some leverage as to how long it should be, what subplots should be included, and how much story extending can be done. LOTR was based on a book, so it is more of an interpretation of what had been previously written. Spidey and X-men are both long-running comics and animations-screenplay writers can just choose where to cut the story arcs. Sad to say that Daredevil was cut early, it did not fare as good as the Batman franchise.

So what makes a great movie? A good setting, a good plot, some action, comedy, mystery, throw in some known actors, and mix in a lot of pop culture references. A good movie is one that you’ll watch, a great movie is one that you’d want to watch again.

What movies have you seen lately?