Full Circle - It Ends at the End?

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*

It started with a boat, er ship. And the rest is pirate history.

For those who followed the adventures of Capt. Jack Sparrow very closely, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is the rousing finale of his swashbuckling tale. Or is it?

The Curse of the Black Pearl compared to Deadman's Chest is far simpler in terms of story. In POTC 1, Capt. Jack's sole goal was to get his ship back from his mutinous first mate Capt. Hector Barbossa and his damned crew. Accidental tourists to his journey are star crossed lovers (?) Will Turner and Elizabeth Schwann along with the unfortunate Commodore James Norrington and the Royal British Navy. In the end, Jack gets his ship back, and Elizabeth and Will finally declares their love for each other. Everybody's happy with the exception of Barbossa who is dead, and Norrington, cast aside.

POTC 2 starts on a grimmer note, the so-called "happy" ending was not what it promised to be with the entry of Lord Cutler Beckett, head of East India Trading Company, and Davey Jones, captain of The Flying Dutchman. Like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the 2nd installment was the villain's hurrah. Everybody's life became miserable. Davey Jones chased Capt. Jack to settle his debt. (Davey Jones raised The Black Pearl from the depths in exchange for Sparrow's eternal servitude). Hot under their rudders was the sea monster called Kraken. Beckett on the other hand, wants to purge the seas of piracy. He orders Jack's, Will's, and Elizabeth's execution. Cutler then made a deal with Will Turner, whom we sets loose to find Sparrow to negotiate for his "broken" compass. Will encounters his father in The Flying Dutchman and vows to release him from Davey Jones's clutches. Complicating the picture is Elizabeth Schwann, who can't seem to figure out her mind. She escapes prison to look for Will, lands on Sparrow's ship, and developed confusing feelings for Jack. In the end, she kills Jack by chaining him on the ship as the Kraken ravages the Black Pearl. Will catches Elizabeth's Judas kiss (love the adjective) and interprets it otherwise. The happy villains, Davy Jones finally confined Sparrow in his "locker," and Commodore Norrington, got his place back in the British Navy by helping the East India Company acquire something more of value. The mother load of all booties landed on Lord Beckett's table, Davey Jones's heart ... which meant only one thing: Control over the seas.

POTC 3, the final tale of the trilogy, is thrice the complication of the first flick. More agendas, betrayals, back stabbing, back stories, and crazy jokes & antics (thanks to Pintel and Ragetti) ... a pirate movie nonetheless. The reviews of the movie range from confusing to awesome. I agree to both. It's confusing if you don't follow closely but most definitely it is AWESOME. Among the 3, this movie has the strongest story line (well, for people who like complicated stuff). The writers minimally spoon fed the audience with details mainly thru Mr. Gibbs and Tia Dalma's obscure speech. You have to exercise your brain a little to understand what the heck is going on in the noggins of each character. How all the pieces fit though, it's just coincidentally perfect.

*SPOILERS*

Capt. Jack Sparrow, dead and locked inside Davey Jones's hell, only wants one thing: To sail the seas forever. Dealing with madness and mortality, he is rescued from death from the same people who killed and attempted to kill him in the past. His stint in the underworld made him more determined to seek measures that will make him immortal. And his solution was to be captain of The Flying Dutchman.

Elizabeth Schwann's only reason rescuing Jack Sparrow was to purge her conscience from guilt for killing him. She signs in with Tia Dalma, Capt. Barbossa, and the rest and travels to Singapore to steal a map to Davey Jones's locker, which is in the possession of another pirate, Sao Feng. They fetch Jack from the underworld, but along the way out she meets her father, ferrying into the sea of the dead. She vows to to avenge his death. With her resolve to defeat the East India Trading Company and Davey Jones, this put her at odds with her love, Will Turner, who has an agenda of his own. She was "captured" by Sao Feng, who in turn was killed when the company attacked his junk. But before he dies, Sao Feng appoints her as captain of his crew, with the belief that she is "Calypso." In the gathering of the brethren of the coast, she was elected as Pirate King with the help of Jack's vote and declares war.

Will Turner's adventure initially started because of Elizabeth, the girl he fancied eversince he was fished out from the sea. Chancing upon his father damned for eternity in the Flying Dutchman, he promises to come back and release him by killing Davey Jones. He drifts away from Elizabeth, as he catches her "betrayal." Till then, his focus was to get his father back. With Davey Jones under Lord Beckett's bidding (as Beckett hostages Jones's heart with the threat of blowing it up into smithereens), Will betrays the pirates by acting as an insider for the company. He leaves a trail for location of the gathering of the brethren in Shipwreck Cove, with Capt. Jack's help.

Davey Jones story, as told by Tia Dalma in the 2nd installment, is that of love for a woman who happens to be Calypso (a sea goddess). It is said that Davey Jones's initial task for the goddess was to guide those who died in the sea to the underworld. He would only set foot on land every 10 years to meet her. After 10 years of guiding the dead, he sets foot on land waiting for her and she did not show up. This caused terrible pain for him, hence he carved his out his heart, hid it in a chest, and abandoned his duties turning him into a monster. The pirate brethren then, having trouble over the goddess's moods tearing the seas apart, connives with Davey Jones into locking her up in mortal form (of course Calypso is not aware of his betrayal). And the mortal form turned out to be Tia Dalma herself.

Captain Barbossa resurrected from the dead by the powers of Tia Dalma wants to get rid of East India Company's hold on the seas. He summons the brethren of the coast to deal with the situation, and his plan was to release Calypso from her mortal shell. In the meeting, a pirate king was to be elected to have the final say on the situation. Pirates being pirates, nominated themselves, which left Jack Sparrow no choice but to vote for Elizabeth, making her pirate king. Barbossa, bent on continuing his plan, was able to steal the effects needed from each key pirate and freed Calypso.

Calypso initially learned from Davey Jones that it was the pirate brethren who imprisoned her. When she was released by Barbossa, she later learned from Will Turner that it was Davey Jones who betrayed her. With allegiances breatched on both sides, she caused a maelstrom during the climactic head to head battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman.

With these subplots going on in the back burner, it was amazing (and did I mention AWESOME?) to watch how things ended up.

Capt. Jack did not become the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. He and Barbossa, back from the clutches of death, both seek the fountain of youth. Barbossa steals the Black Pearl once again from Jack, leaving him a dingy. One step ahead of Barbossa though, Capt. Jack Sparrow manages to steal the map (the one they acquired from Sao Feng) beforehand and armed with his compass travels out into the sea to find the fountain of youth.

Will Turner had a twisted fate. Or destiny as Tia Dalma once said. He became the captain of the Flying Dutchman freeing his father. However, the price of this was that he has to remain captain of the Flying Dutchman forever, guiding the souls lost at sea to the underworld. He is to set foot on land every 10 years to meet his "Calypso," who happens to be Elizabeth, and their son. They were wed in the middle of the battle in the maelstrom by Capt. Barbossa. (LOL, talk about wedding disaster.)

Will there be a Pirates 4 then? I could not say with certainty, but with Sparrow and Barbossa searching for the same thing, there is a probability. I do not know about Will and Elizabeth's fate though, if it could be undone. It can be a start of another story altogether.

What made me sad though is the death of Commodore James Norrington. Eventhough he caused a lot of trouble in the movie, how he died just don't make sense. It's just too lame. His character was interesting in POTC 2 only to be extinguished like I nothing. I personally like his character.

Anyway, I think with the length of what I've written here, it only means I enjoyed the movie immensely. Heck, I'm gonna watch it again.

And as a final note, Capt. Jack Sparrow is truly one of the best characters that fiction could create. Hahaha. Too many memorable quotes and movie scenes to mention.

Watch the flick, this is one movie not to be missed.