Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End Directed by Gore Verbinski

The much-anticipated third installment in the swashbuckling extravaganza that is Pirates of the Caribbean is here. Just like the Walt Disney ride which it is based on, it's one hell of a rollercoaster - although it's a neverending one at that.

Director Gore Verbinski is back at the helm, along with Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and, of course, the inimitable Johnny Depp carrying on from where they left off.

Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) have joined forces with Captain Barbossa (Rush) in a desperate quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) from his mind-bending trap in Davy Jones' locker.

Meanwhile, the ghost ship the Flying Dutchman and its vengeful captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who is under the control of the East India Trading Company, is wreaking havoc across the seven seas.

Depp fans have to wait a good half hour before the great Jack Sparrow graces the screen, but then it's just plain sailing after that.

Sparrow is as camp and as over the top as ever, although you get scores of him for the price of one. While in Davy Jones' locker, his ship the Black Pearl is manned by dozens of versions of Jack. One thinks that he is a chicken laying an egg, while another takes a liking to a goat.

Depp gets the biggest laughs, but he has serious competition from a monkey which frankly acts his socks off.

Knightley finally comes into her own in this trilogy and there is a great cameo appearance by legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards as a strumming pirate lord.

This is not an easy film to follow, with more storylines that you can shiver your timbers at.

At 168 minutes long, there were times when I got that sinking feeling that I too was at the world's end losing the plot. Less would definitely have been more.

But Verbinski keeps the action pumping and on course for the big climactic finale - the final titanic battle including the showdown between Davy Jones and Sparrow at the top of a mast. On the way, there is lots of double dealing followed by triple dealing and surreal moments such as Naomi Harris, as Calypso, exploding into crabs.

No doubt the film-makers are hoping that At World's End can surpass the success Dead Man's Chest, which became the third highest-grossing movie in box office history, raking in more than $1 billion.

If it does, they have left the way open for a fourth installment.

From Morning Star