by Manny The Movie Guy

Created on: October 30, 2007

Batten down the hatches and man the sails, one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer sets sail for box-office gold. From Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, the third and final chapter of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy weighs anchor in theaters everywhere. But hear this mateys, beware of the perils of third installment movies.

So far, the last two equally-anticipated films of the summer gave us creative disappointments, and both were number 3s. "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek the Third" succeeded in ending their franchises, but neither could top their previous sequels. "At World's End" gives "Pirates" a proper send-off and is better than "Dead Man's Chest," but "The Curse of the Black Pearl" is still far superior.

"At World's End" reunites the stars of the first two films for the swashbuckling conclusion of the epic tale chronicling the misadventures of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). The film picks up where "Dead Man's Chest" left off.

Jack is in limbo-hell hidden in Davy Jones' locker after being clutched by the kraken. So Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) must form a dangerous liaison with the undead Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to rescue our favorite rum-soaked pirate.

Meanwhile, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), head of the East India Trading Company, is plotting to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the pirates. So he creates a dark alliance with a cursed creature whose heart he now controls, the half-man, half-squid, Davey Jones (Bill Nighy).

The film reeks of plot points involving treachery and betrayal on the high seas and you may have to watch it twice to navigate through the convoluted mythologies. Terry Rossio, one of the screenwriters of the trilogy, admits that the films "had been designed for multiple viewings." Aha! So that explains the franchise's big box-office loot.

I went to Disneyland to bravely attend the film's world premier to find out the answer to my question: have we really seen the world's end for our beloved pirates? Producer Jerry Bruckheimer replied with a mysterious "maybe" while director Gore Verbinski bravely said, "yes, this is the last one, I need a vacation."

We can't blame Verbinski for feeling fatigued. With a reported budget of $300M, the filmmakers knew they'd be walking the plank with this finale. So they worked non-stop to deliver a showstopper, and introduced new characters to keep audiences' interest.

Chow-Yun Fat joins the film as Captain Sao Feng,

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