For anybody who wanted more of everything within the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, then Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the movie for them. There are more characters, more pirates, more battles, more ships, more jokes, more Johnny Depp (literally), and even more running time. It seems like director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Weather Man) and writers Ted Elliott (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Legend of Zorro) and Terry Rossio (Deja Vu, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) tried to cram in as much as possible in the last installment of the trilogy.

At World's End is unnecessarily complex. There is a chaotic, slapdash feel to it, but underneath it all, Elliott and Rossio have intricately plotted out double and triple crosses, weaving together a story full of at least a dozen major and minor characters, as well as setting out to resolve dangling threads from the first two movies. It's a lot of work, almost more than was necessary, and will probably leave most people scratching their heads similar to when they watched Mission Impossible. In trying to keep track of everything going on, some people will concentrate too hard and thus enjoy the film less.  Things move very quickly, even given the running time, so the plot will probably move too quickly for most people. Verbinski does his part, starting slow and building until At World's End becomes one long battle sequence.

The third movie picks up right after the second one. A resurrected Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Candy) leads an expedition with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Elizabethtown), Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Domino), and the rest of their crew to the strange world of Davy Jones' Locker in order to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Corpse Bride). Needless to say, Sparrow does get rescued. Upon their return, they find that Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander, A Good Year, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy, Hot Fuzz, Notes on a Scandal) have joined forces in order to eliminate pirates worldwide.

There is a lot of action, but the core element that made the first movie so successful is still there - a sense of fun. Even with all of the fighting going on, Verbinski, Elliott, and Rossio still take time to ensure that the actors and the audience are having a good time. It flows a bit more naturally than Dead Man's Chest, but is still chasing to try to catch up to the original. Lest people forget, there is a love story within this complex mess, and Verbinski resurrects it for a bit, but it still feels stilted and unnatural.  Depp and Rush chew up the scenery, obviously having a fun time with their roles.  The rest of the acting is decent, but nothing especially good or bad.  Many things come to a relatively satisfying end, but the movie could easily lose 45 minutes without any substantial part of its story.