Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Well, here we go again. I still maintain that this is one of my favorite film franchises, but the movies tend to be very long and complicated. and writing a detailed analysis can be very exhausting. Worse yet, this film, which clocks in at just under three hours, may very well be the longest film we’ve covered for Deep Dive Disney thus far. Well, we may as well get to it then. First, a quick recap for those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Last time, Davy Jones came to collect the soul of Captain Jack Sparrow, calling forth The Kraken to spirit him away to the locker. Tia Dalma, the mysterious voodoo woman, suggested that there may be a way to save Jack from the other side. Meanwhile, a now disgraced James Norrington has made off with the heart of Davy Jones, which can be used to compel the legendary figure to obey your will and has given it to the sinister Lord Cutler Beckett, head of the East India Trading Company. Where we pick up in this film, Beckett has wasted no time using his new supernatural enforcer to rid the seas of everyone and anyone what calls themselves pirate and enforcing a brutal regime under the flag of the East India Trading Company. Meanwhile, Will, Elizabeth and a newly resurrected Barbosa brave the weird and haunted shores at World’s End in order to retrieve Jack, especially since a meeting of the Brethren Court has been called. Since both Jack and Barbosa are among the Nine Pirate Lords, their presence is required to decide how to deal with the Beckett situation. As Captain Jack himself, he finds himself trapped within the eternal nothingness that is Davy Jones Locker and slowly losing what little sanity he had left. When our heroes come together and return to the world of the living, it’s a series of betrayals, deception, epic battles, piratical politics, supernatural summonings, and of course, plenty of buckling of the swash variety, all of it culminating in a final standoff between the pirates and the East India Company with The Black Pearl and The Flying Dutchman leading the respective fleets. While overall I still enjoy this film, it is in this movie where the overly convoluted plots that would plague the series for the rest of its run first rise to prominence. Even still, this film wraps the original trilogy up nicely so why don’t we hoist the colors and sail right into, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Main Character:

Well, once again the role of main character is split between our three heroes. However, I use the term “heroes” very loosely this time around since characters in this movie are constantly shifting allegiances. Seriously, trying to keep track of who’s on whose side at any given time in this movie is only going to result severe dizziness. Everyone from Will to Elizabeth to Barbosa to virtually everyone else on the voyage to the locker has some kind of ulterior motive. As Jack says, “Did No One Come to Save Me Just Because They Missed Me?” Whatever, let’s just start with Will. See, Will voyaging to the locker was never really about Jack but rather, The Black Pearl. Knowing that The Pearl is one of the few ships in existence with a tactical advantage over The Flying Dutchman and will feels that he can use it to take down Jones and free his father from servitude. Problem is, Will becomes a bit single minded in the process, to the point where he’s willing to make deals with Beckett and sell out the pirates just for a shot at stabbing Jones right in his disembodied heart. However, turns out that’s a bit more complicated than we thought. See, this movie introduces the idea that anyone who stabs the heart of Davy Jones must put their own heart in the Dead Man’s Chest and take Jones’ place as captain of The Flying Dutchman. That’s why you have to read the fine print people. Fortunately, when all is said and done, our heroes are all back on the same team. Unfortunately, Will is fatally wounded during the final battle, forcing Jack to make him stab the heart in order to save his own life. And so, Will’s story ends with him taking Jones’ place aboard the Dutchman, freeing the ship and his father of Jones’ corruption and returning the ship to its original purpose, ferry the souls of the those who have died at sea to the other side. In a nice moment, he leaves the chest that contains his heart in the care of Elizabeth, a symbolic gesture of love.

Speaking of Elizabeth, I really like where Elizabeth’s story goes in this movie. After Elizabeth alleviates her guilt by saving Jack from the locker (remember, it’s partly her fault that he’s there in the first place), a group of Singaporean pirates who have made a deal with Will to turn Jack over to Beckett take Elizabeth captive. Through a series of convoluted events and misunderstandings, Elizabeth becomes captain of the ship holding her captive as well as one of the nine pirate lords and then later gets elected king of all pirates, which is pretty awesome. Elizabeth, the little girl who never fit into high society who grew up fascinated with pirates now becomes their leader who valiantly leads them into battle, saving them from the brink of extinction. It’s just really cool to see her come full circle and, as a result, find her place in the world.

And finally, let’s talk about good old Captain Jack. When we first pick up with Jack, he seems to have gone a little crazy during his time in the locker. Well, crazier at any rate. However, the whole ordeal seems to have given Jack some clarity and time to think because we’re right back to the Jack we know and love from the first movie, the one who can easily adapt to new situations and is always ten steps ahead of everybody. One of my favorite examples of Jack being the smartest guy in the room this time around is when he single-handedly gets Elizabeth elected as Pirate King. See, the Nine Pirate Lords are all so power hungry that they all end up voting for themselves. Jack knows this and, caring not for becoming king himself, votes for Elizabeth since her plan best lined up with Jack’s. Very clever. This movie also does this thing with Jack that seems kind of strange. See, often times we’ll see Jack talking to hallucinations of himself and trying to figure out his next move. Many have interpreted this as Jack having gone nuts in Davy Jones Locker, but personally, I think that this is just Jack’s process of working things out, literally arguing with himself over what would be the best course of action. While Jack doesn’t end up with the Black Pearl at the end of the film, we does ultimately get what he wants, freedom, freedom to seek out new horizons and new adventures. Even though we still have two more movies to go, if this was where the Jack Sparrow saga ended, I’d honestly be okay with that. I’ll close out this section by commenting on the film’s final scene. See, in the last movie, the compass that points to what one wants most didn't seem to work for Jack because he wasn't sure what he wanted. Well, in the final scene, we see Jack exactly as we found him at the beginning of the first movie. Parted from the Pearl and floating in the ocean in a pathetic dingy, and yet, Jack has found what he wants. RUM! Well, okay, that's what the compass points to at first, but after Jack is good and drunk, it points towards the horizon and towards Jack's next adventure whatever it may be. In a way, even without the Pearl, Jack has finally found the freedom he's always longed for.

Villain:

Before we get to the real villain of the piece, Davy Jones is still hanging around here. He’s still every bit the unstoppable force of nature he was in the last movie. Okay, not every bit but we’ll get to that in just a second. Jones is still threatening here, but his past relationship and how he felt betrayed by his lover and betrayed her in turn is also elaborated on, making him a lot more sympathetic this time around. The fact that Jones is no longer his own master and is unwillingly answerable to the East India Company kind of makes him lose a bit of menace, but the Dutchman remains and Jones still gets plenty of opportunities to remind us that he’s a badass, just now a badass working for someone even worse.

That someone worse is Lord Cutler Beckett. While established in the previous film he gets promoted to full blown big bad in this flick. While characters like Barbosa and Jones may be more iconic and synonymous with the franchise, but for my money, Beckett is far and away the most sinister antagonist this franchise has yet seen. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Xanatos, a cold and calculating businessman who sees everyone and everything around him as an asset to exploit. To him, nothing is personal, just good business. Once Beckett has Jones under his control, he wastes no time making pirates all but extinct and anyone who opposes him is merely an obstacle to be destroyed. Beckett is played by Tom Hollander, who also played Simon Foster from the 2009 British political comedy, In the Loop. Man, I would love to see Beckett get cursed out by Peter Capaldi. Jokes aside, the man has incredible range. Every second you see this guy on screen, you feel just how little he cares for anyone other than himself. The only person he seems to hold a personal grudge against is Jack Sparrow himself, and we never actually learn why. They actually work off one another very well, like two men that clearly hate each other but also know each other better than anyone else. While I’m curious as to the reason, not knowing actually makes their relationship all the more interesting. Beckett also gets one of the coolest death scenes in Disney History. At this point, Will has taken control of the Dutchman and as soon as Beckett realizes his ace is no longer in the hole so to speak, all of Beckett’s confidence fades away. What follows is a beautiful sequence where Beckett, who’s almost in shock, wanders aimlessly across the deck of his ship as it’s blown to bits, his last words being “It’s Just Good Business.”

Side Characters:

Let’s start with the big one. By way of Tia Dalma’s magic, Barbossa is back! Yes, after his presence being greatly missed in the last film (not counting the last few seconds) Geoffrey Rush is back in full force and it is glorious. Truth be told, his character hasn’t really changed much from the first film, he’s just on the good guys’ team now. He’s still every bit the crazed and bloodthirsty pirate he once was, just maybe a bit less insane due to a decade of being a cursed revenant. I actually like that we get these little moments between Barbossa and Jack that show that they do respect one another and maybe even still think of each other as friends even though the rest of the time they can’t stand the sight of each other. It’s really cool and I’m just so happy to have Barbossa back in this franchise.

Also returning to bring his arc full circle is our old favorite, Norrington. I cannot stress enough, Jack Davenport is awesome in these movies and more people need to be talking about it. Here, Norrington has regained everything he’s ever lost by giving Beckett the heart of Davy Jones, and yet, seeing the senseless slaughter that the Dutchman causes at Beckett’s behest and the totalitarian order he imposes, even a man as straight-laced as Norrington is given pause. Norrington’s problem has always been an inability to distinguish between what is right and what is lawful. Technically, the people Beckett are slaughtering are criminals but the methods he chooses to impose order, even Norrington can see that this is wrong. And so, Norrington finally wakes up and learns to do what is right, giving his life to help Elizabeth and her crew escape the Dutchman.

Now, let’s discuss Tia Dalma, or should I say, the sea goddess Calypso. Don’t get me wrong, the character is fun, and the reveal that she was actually Davy Jones ex-lover who betrayed him gives the character a bit more depth, but honestly, the whole Calypso thing, despite it being such a major part of the plot, ultimately doesn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Like, there’s this whole big to do about releasing Calypso from her human bonds but when they do, all she does is create a whirlpool that doesn’t really give either side the advantage. So, all that for a more epic final battle. Cool, but ultimately pointless.

Last but not least, this movie introduces us to Captain Edward Teague, the father of Jack Sparrow, played by the absolute legend that is, Keith Richards, the very man whom Johnny Depp based the Jack Sparrow character on. It’s cool as hell to see Keith Richards in this movie and he makes the most of his one brief scene. Something I find very funny about this is that, between the two principal influences on the Jack Sparrow character, those being Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew, who would have ever predicted that it would have been the lovable cartoon character who ended up being cancelled and NOT the aging rock star with a history of substance abuse. Funny old world we live in isn’t it.

Songs:

In addition to the always awesome Hans Zimmer score, we only have one song this time around, but it's a good one. It's called "Hoist The Colors" and it's presented as this inspirational pirate battle anthem. It's also apparently some kind of signal that it's time to convene the brethren court. It's not as catchy as A Pirates Life for Me, but it's not bad.

Memorable Scenes:

There’s quite a few scenes to discuss and as such, we’re going to kick off with Jack’s first appearance in the film, and this one is far and away the strangest of the bunch. We see an extreme closeup on Jack about to chow down on a single peanut. Jack then gets shot by another Jack who is apparently gone nuts in the nothingness of Davy Jones Locker and is hallucinating an entire crew of just himself crewing the Pearl. However, later, Jack is able to flip the script with the help of some friendly rock crab things which may or may not be part of Tia Dalma and Jack arrives to greet his would-be rescuers on the Mast of the Pearl as his dreads blow majestically in the wind. This scene nicely mirrors the first time we ever saw Jack only every bit as grandiose as Jack imagines himself to be.

Another great scene is this sweet prisoner exchange between Beckett and our heroes. The whole scene is great and has this sweet showdown at high noon sort of vibe. Frankly, this one scene is better than the actual cowboy movie these same filmmakers. The less said about The Lone Ranger Movie where a white dude plays Tonto the better. There’s even a bit where Davy Jones does the people’s eyebrow, it’s great.

And finally, there’s the bit where Will and Elizabeth are finally married in the middle of a battle, Barbossa reluctantly performing the ceremony. It’s just the right blend of funny and awesome and I love it. I can’t help but wonder if it was inspired by a certain scene we discussed back in my Robin Hood article.

Story:

Many of the themes from the previous two movies, such as what it means to be free, how one can be a pirate and a good person, how a legend can grow beyond the one who inspired it and most relevant here, the idea that sometimes the only way out is to face your problems head on. There’s this one pivotal scene where Jack suggests that fighting Beckett is the best course of action, something the pirate lords scoff at since Jack is notorious for running away. But Jack knows that if he doesn’t fight now, he may never be able to run away ever again. No more freedom, no more adventures. A far cry from the Jack of the last movie who tried everything possible to get out of facing Davy Jones. It shows that while Jack is still the Jack we know and love, he has still grown as a character.

The Dark Disney Factor:

Well, this movie certainly wastes no time sailing into dark waters as it were. In fact, it goes from zero to a hundred so quick that it almost feels a bit jarring. You see the happy Disney logo and the big When You Wish Upon a Star fanfare and then Boom! Hangman’s Noose! Not only that, the person getting hanged is a small child, just one of the many, many, many, MANY people who Beckett is hanging under his new regime. It’s pretty fucked up and sets the tone for this movie right away. On top of that we have some of the carryover from the last movie like the terrifying mutant fish people who are shown this time around to actually be part of the Dutchman, the severed heart that Davy Jones literally cut out of his chest because he couldn’t bare the pain of his lover’s betrayal and so much more. There’s this one especially off putting where Jack imagines what may become of him if he takes Jones’ place. He sees himself as a mutated fish creature complete with a detachable brain… which he licks. Gross.

Final Thoughts: While there are parts of this movie that are needlessly convoluted, overall I feel that this still a good movie and a worthy ending to this chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga. It gives all three of our main characters a satisfying end and as I said, if this had been the end of the series, I'd have been okay with that. Next time, we cover another well-liked film that I've never seen before. Join me in our next article when Deep Dive Disney looks at Rata.. Ratata... I don't know it's some French vegetable dish.