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 Reel Life with Jane!Get the latest scoop on family-friendly movies at the theatre and on DVD! PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action / adventure violence and some frightening images. Should you bring the kids? Yes, but I would adhere to the PG-13 rating. The movie starts with people being hanged for various crimes, and you see their dead bodies thrown into a pile. Lots of characters are stabbed and blown up, and the whole movie has a mystical feel to it. Also, the storyline is somewhat – ok, very – convoluted. I had to have my almost-13-year-old son explain it to me afterwards. For more info, see "Bringing the Kids" below. THE STORY: This third installment of the Pirate trilogy, directed by Gore Verbinski, picks up where the second movie left off. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is living in Davy Jones' locker, a sort of hallucinatory desert-wasteland-purgatory where he sees imaginary clones of himself. It's all very sepia-toned.
Yeah, it's confusing, and that's just the beginning. This movie has so many convoluted plot twists and turns, you need a storyboard to keep track of what's happening and who's working with whom. Basically, everyone's out for revenge. Will must free his father, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) from Davy's cursed ship; Elizabeth, still feeling guilty for cuffing Jack to the Black Pearl at the end of the second movie, now finds herself the captain of a ship; And Barbossa is leading a council of pirate lords who've gathered to protect their interests and jobs.
Davy Jones' beating heart also plays into the storyline. It's still in that chest they found in the second movie. Although the freshness of the franchise died somewhere in the Kraken scene of the second movie, it's still fun to see the dysfunctional gang again. And there's that lingering attraction between Elizabeth and Captain Jack. Will she follow her true feelings? And what ARE her true feelings? You'll have to see the movie to find out. If you're prone to motion sickness, you'll probably have to close your eyes for much of the last 20 minutes. There's lots of rocking-boat scenes and fast-paced fighting. BRINGING THE KIDS: PRESCHOOLERS (ages 2-5): With a PG-13 rating, this movie isn't for little ones. More age-appropriate pirate adventures include "Peter Pan" (a 2-disc platinum edition of the original 1953 cartoon was released on March 6, 2007); "Muppet Treasure Island" (DVD, 1996); and "Dora the Explorer – Pirate Adventure" (DVD, 2003). GRADE-SCHOOLERS (ages 6 - 10): Like the first two movies, this one features cool locations and fairly cool special effects. It also features plenty of crude humor and violence, including hangings, stabbings, sword fights, explosions, floating bodies, and creepy, barnacle-encrusted pirates, not to mention the tentacle-bearded Davy Jones. The whole movie has a mystical feel to it, with the Davy Jones purgatory, voodoo spells, half-dead pirates, and innuendo-filled banter playing into the storyline. For that reason, I don't recommend it for kids younger than 13. TWEEN / TEEN (ages 11+): Captain Jack is always fun to watch, and his loopiness is balanced out by the noble Will Turner. Themes of honor, family, and friendship are present, and this movie shows how the choices we make can affect our lives for a very long time. Also, Elizabeth and Tia are strong, fearless female characters who can protect themselves with the best of 'em. JANE’S REEL RATING SYSTEM : One Reel: Pathetic. Even The Force can’t save it. Two Reels: Tolerable. Coulda been a contender. Three Reels: Pleasant. Something to talk about. Four Reels: Wow! The stuff dreams are made of. Jane Louise Boursaw is a freelance journalist specializing in the movie and television industries. Visit her online at www.ReelLifeWithJane.com or email jboursaw@charter.net
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by Jane Louise Boursaw
Meanwhile, the plucky Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), swashbuckling Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and resurrected Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) travel to Singapore. Their goal is to enlist the help of pirate lord Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) to help save Jack and join his fellow captains against the British, who are in control of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and his Flying Dutchman crew.
Meanwhile, the mysterious Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) seeks to unleash her trapped sea goddess (she has a thing for sea crabs). She's also in love with Davy Jones. Keith Richards does indeed show up, albeit briefly, as Jack's father. You're sort of waiting for that to happen, and then he's on screen for, like, 30 seconds. He has a few lines, but you can only understand one of them. I wonder how many takes that took.