REEL CRITICS:Latest ‘Pirates’ full of laughs, memorable performances

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction at Disneyland first opened in 1967. Other than the repetitive song and a few speaking animated figures, there is nothing on which to base a movie script. Nonetheless, three films have been produced based on this concept.

The latest installment is “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

At the end of the second film, Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) had been swallowed by the Kraken, the evil sea monster dispatched by Davy Jones himself. Depp’s enemy Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) had been resurrected from the dead to head the search for Sparrow by sorceress Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris).

This serves as the jumping off point for “At World’s End.” Barbossa is joined on his quest by Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley). Barbossa wishes to unite all the pirate lords from around the globe to battle Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), leader of the East India Trading Company. Lord Beckett has pledged to annihilate all pirates and has enslaved Davy Jones and his ship, the Flying Dutchman in his cause.

Of course, Capt. Jack is somewhere beyond this world. Using a map supplied by Tia Dalma, Barbossa literally sails his ship the Black Pearl off the edge of the earth in search of Sparrow. Instead of perishing, Barbossa and his crew enter another dimension where nothing is as it appears.

Eventually, Jack Sparrow is united with Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, and his old crew. After a tricky bit of business escaping the underworld, they set about uniting with the other pirate lords in Shipwreck Cove.

Just about everything in “At World’s End” is played for laughs and it is definitely the funniest of the series. The film meanders a bit between the magnificent special-effects-laden action sequences, but these are so numerous and spectacular it is worth the wait.

Rush’s performance nearly steals the show, and he obviously fully enjoys playing the colorful Barbossa. Bloom gets a chance to portray a bit of a dark side to his character, and the fate of Will Turner will probably surprise some. Knightley is her usual radiant self.

Films pitting good against evil are only as effective as their villains, and Hollander’s malevolent portrayal of Lord Beckett is memorable. A newcomer to the franchise is Chow Yun-Fat, who portrays pirate lord Capt. Sao Feng. Remaining the focal point for the enterprise is nonetheless Depp. It is hard to focus on anyone else when Capt. Jack is on the screen.

There are already rumors of a fourth “Pirates” movie and this film certainly leaves the door wide open for another sequel. Already breaking box office records, this franchise apparently still has legs.