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Sequels get such a bad rap, you might wonder why there are so many of them.

The simple answer is that moviegoers fall in love with characters and not just plots. As long as the character is interesting, the audience is interested.

With Johnny Depp's Oscar nominated portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, a long chain of sequels was a given.

I read somewhere that the screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio envisioned Captain Jack as sort of a Bugs Bunny type character. He's smart, crafty and most of the time can get away with things simply because he's Bugs Bunny.

The same holds true for Captain Jack. The difference is the brilliance of Johnny Depp made him less cartoonish and more of a romantic anti-hero.

No matter how many helpings of Pirates we go back for, as long as Johnny is part of the equation it will definitely be a blockbuster.

Critically, however, AWE failed to woo as many devotees as its forerunners. Part of that is "sequelitis". It's very uncommon to feel the same about the third installment as we do the first, simply because there's nothing quite like the first time we discover characters we love.

In a sequel there's a lot of discovery that has already been done, and the storytelling pace is decidedly different.

Characters bring you back to a sequel, but the plot can kill your enthusiasm.

ATW faltered in that the most successful part of their enterprise didn't even show up until an hour into the movie. For those in the audience who came to see what became of Captain Jack, they were forced to wade through a rather inconvenient (and arguably unnecessary) pass through Singapore.

Ted and Terry filled the two sequels with tongue in check references to the original movie, and such was the sojourn into the Orient. After having the grim mood be set with the opening executions (which included a small boy), the audience needed Jack Sparrow in the worst way.

Unfortunately it felt like World's End before we got to him.

Once he graced the screen (and graced and graced and graced the scene), it was Pirates as we knew and loved. Adding the dynamic with Captain Barbosa gave our storytellers plenty of room for Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush to keep us endlessly entertained with their constant oneupmanship.

If one were to consider the first three movies a true trilogy, then the story belonged to Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. It is their story that is told to completion by the end of AWE, tucking them neatly away so that in the future their presence will not be required for any additional sequels.

This actually works to the favor of the franchise itself. In the next installment, we will need to be introduced to the new players and the rhythm of of the story will be restored. And, after these last three movies, we are able to much of the first story to bed.

No need to retread old territory, and without a plethora of supporting actors carrying the main plot - we'll get what we wanted to see when we bought our ticket for "At World's End".

Jack Sparrow, and a lot of it.

"Pirates" have blown their audiences away with visual effects, but perhaps nothing can top the sheer beauty of AWE in terms of scope. From traveling to the world of the dead and back, not to mention to a gut wrenching maelstrom, AWE was visually stunning from start to finish. Add to that the amazing score by Hans Zimmer and AWE brings back everything one could love from their movie experience.

Especially, and most importantly, a lot of room for Captain Jack to come back for one more adventure.

Most likely to find the fountain of youth.

Where ever it is, whatever it is I'll be there, opening night.

B+

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