Reviewer's grade: A
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush and more pirates than you can shake a cutlass at weigh anchor for box-office heaven in this final chapter in the "Pirates" trilogy - yeah, right.
Our gang of soft-core cutthroats sets sail to rescue Depp's Capt. Jack Sparrow from the Land of the Dead, gather the buccaneer captains from the Seven Seas - a sort of piratical board of directors (and you thought only Enron had one of those) - and defeat the evil Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) and tentacled Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).
It's a terrific spectacle and director Gore Verbinski keeps it rolling along at a much brisker pace than part two, and with fewer pointless diversions. The supporting cast returns for color and Keith Richards, in his highly anticipated cameo, actually presents us with a performance that's good enough to make us want more. PG-13
- Doug Bentin