Friday, November 30, 2007

All Time Greatest films in the World(5) :Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End





(Courtesy:disney.go.com)


Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a 2007 adventure film, the third in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Gore Verbinski directed the film, as he did with the previous two. It was shot in two shoots during 2005 and 2006, the former simultaneously with the preceding film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.The plot follows the crew of the Black Pearl rescuing Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), from Davy Jones' Locker, and then preparing to fight the East India Trading Company, led by Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who plan to extinguish piracy. The film was released in English-speaking countries on May 24, 2007 after Disney opted to move the release date to a day earlier than originally planned. Critical reviews were mixed, but At World's End was a box office hit, becoming the most successful film of the year.
Story and Plot point
Lord Cutler Beckett begins executing anyone associated with piracy and commands Davy Jones to destroy all pirate ships. To confront Beckett’s assault, the nine pirate lords making up the Brethren Court have been summoned to convene on Shipwreck Cove. However, Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate lord of the Caribbean, never appointed his successor, and therefore must be present. Captain Barbossa leads Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma and the Black Pearl crew to rescue Jack. Sao Feng, pirate lord of Singapore, possesses a map to World's End, the gateway to Davy Jones' Locker. Elizabeth and Barbossa attempt to bargain with Feng for the map and a ship, but Feng is furious that Will already attempted to steal it. The British Royal Navy, acting under orders from Beckett, suddenly attack Feng's bathhouse. During the ensuing chaos, Will strikes a bargain with Feng for the Black Pearl in exchange for Sparrow, whom Feng wants to turn over to Beckett, presumably in exchange for immunity from Davy Jones' attacks on pirates. Will wants the Black Pearl to rescue his father from the Flying Dutchman.
The crew journey through a frozen sea and sail over an enormous waterfall into the Locker. Aboard the Pearl, Sparrow is suffering hallucinations about an entire crew comprising himself, each representing a different facet of his character. The Pearl is dragged to an ocean shore by crab-like creatures, and Jack is reunited with his old shipmates, though he is initially reluctant to rejoin a crew who, among them, include four people who had attempted to kill him in the past. As the Black Pearl crew seek an escape route, they see dead souls floating under the water. Tia Dalma reveals that Davy Jones was appointed by his lover, Calypso, goddess of the sea, to ferry the dead to the next world. In return, Jones was allowed to step upon land for one day every ten years to be with his love, but when she failed to meet him, the scorned captain abandoned his duty and transformed into a monster. Elizabeth sees her father, Governor Weatherby Swann's soul pass by in a boat; he was murdered by Beckett. A distraught Elizabeth vows revenge.
The Black Pearl remains trapped in the Locker until Sparrow deciphers the map, realizing the ship must be capsized to return to the living world. They overturn the ship, and at sunset, upturn back into the living world. Upon their return, Sao Feng attacks, revealing his agreement with Will. But he betrays Will, having made a deal with Cutler Beckett to hand over the crew and keep the Black Pearl. Onboard Endeavor, Sparrow refuses to divulge to Beckett where the Brethren Court will convene. Beckett double-crosses Feng by keeping the Black Pearl for his armada, and in turn Feng gives Sparrow the ship back, while taking Elizabeth, whom he believes is Calypso. Aboard his warship, the Empress, Feng tells Elizabeth that it was the first Brethren Court who trapped Calypso into human form so they could control the seas. Feng is mortally wounded when Davy Jones attacks his ship. Before dying, he appoints Elizabeth his heir, making her captain and the pirate lord of Singapore. She and the crew are imprisoned in Flying Dutchman's brig. Also aboard is Admiral James Norringtow, who betrays Beckett and frees Elizabeth and her crew who escape back to their ship, although Norrington is killed when he is discovered by Bootstrap Bill.
Will leaves a trail of corpses for Beckett's ship to follow. Sparrow catches him and tosses him overboard, but he first gives him his magical compass, apparently intending for Beckett to find them. Will is picked up by Beckett's ship, and it is revealed that it was Davy Jones who masterminded Calypso's imprisonment by the pirate lords. At Shipwreck Island, the nine pirate lords disagree over freeing Calypso. Barbossa calls upon Captain Teague Sparrow, Keeper of the Pirata Codex and Jack's father, to reveal that a Pirate King is needed to declare war. Elizabeth, newly ordained Pirate lord of Singapore, is elected "Pirate King" after Sparrow’s vote breaks a stalemate (during previous elections, each pirate lord voted only for himself/herself). She orders the pirates to fight Beckett. During a preceding parlay with Beckett and Jones, Elizabeth and Barbossa swap Sparrow for Will.
Barbossa tricked the other pirate lords into giving him their insignias, which he needs to free Calypso, who is Tia Dalma. When Barbossa releases her in a ritual, her fury over Jones' betrayal unleashes a violent maelstrom just as the Navy's massive fleet appears on the horizon. During the battle, Sparrow escapes the Flying Dutchman with the Dead Man's Chest. As the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman face off near the centre of a massive whirlpool, Will proposes to Elizabeth. They insist Barbossa marry them as Jack is onboard the Flying Dutchman, and so unavailable to marry them as Captain of the Black Pearl. Barbossa agrees, marries them and continues fighting as they exchange vows and kiss in the ensuing chaos. When Davy Jones mortally wounds Will aboard his ship, Bootstrap Bill attacks Jones. Jack, who wanted the heart for his own immortality, places a knife in Will's hand and helps him stab Jones' heart, killing Jones and making Will the Flying Dutchman's captain. After Jack tears Elizabeth away from the seemingly dead body of her husband, they escape the Flying Dutchman from some quick thinking on Jack's part. The crew cut out Will's heart and place it into the "Dead Man's Chest": the crewmen regain their humanity, and Will and Sparrow captain the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl respectively to destroy Beckett's ship, the Endeavor, forcing the enemy fleet to retreat.
Although Will has been saved and the Dutchman crew has regained their humanity, he must now spend the next ten years at sea. He and Elizabeth have one day together and consummate their marriage on an island before Will must leave for his new life. Will gives Elizabeth the "Dead Man's Chest" for safekeeping. Shortly after, Barbossa again commandeers the Black Pearl, stranding Jack and Gibbs in Tortuga. Having anticipated Barbossa's deception, however, Sparrow has already removed the map's middle that leads to the Fountain of Youth. In a post-credits scene set ten years later, Will appears on the horizon aboard the Flying Dutchman and is seen sailing towards land to meet Elizabeth and their adolescent child.
Box office Records and Reaction
Like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, At World's End received mixed reviews with the most common criticism of the film from reviewers was that the plot was too convoluted for them to follow. Drew McWeeny was an exception, praising its complexity as giving it repeat-viewing value, and its conclusion as "perhaps the most canny move it makes." Todd Gilchrist found the story too similar to other cinematic trilogies such as Star Wars but praised the production values. Brian Lowry felt that "unlike last year's bloated sequel, it at least possesses some semblance of a destination, making it slightly more coherent - if no less numbing during the protracted finale." Total Film praised the performances but complained that the twists and exposition made it hard to care for the characters. Edward Douglas liked the film but had issues with its pacing, while Blake Wright criticized the Davy Jones' Locker and Calypso segments. James Berardinelli found it the weakest of the trilogy as "the last hour offers adventure as rousing as anything provided in either of the previous installments... which doesn't account for the other 108 minutes of this gorged, self-indulgent, and uneven production." Peter Travers praised Richards and Rush but felt "there can indeed be too much of a good thing," regarding Depp's character. In review aggregate websites, At World's End has a "rotten" rating of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and 50% at Metacritic.Favorable reviewer Alex Billington noted, "This is just how the film industry works nowadays; critics give bad opinions, the public usually has a differing opinion, and all is well in the world of Hollywood since the studios made their millions anyway." On May 24, 2007 the film earned US$58 million worldwide, and earned the fifth-biggest three-day opening yet, breaking the Memorial Day weekend record of X-Men: The Last Stand, with a domestic gross of $142 million. The addition of the Thursday screenings brought the opening total to $156 million. Elsewhere, it grossed $205 million, bringing the worldwide opening gross to $332 million. By June 13, 2007, the film had grossed $500 million overseas in 20 days, breaking Spider-Man 3's record for reaching that amount the fastest. The film has grossed $961 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2007, and the fifth-highest grossing film worldwide.
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