On The Road Again Part III

The kids and I are basking in the glow of beholding “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End” last night here in Raleigh. A word of warning before I go any further; I will try to be fair and balanced with my review but please understand, I have a serious preoccupation with the source material. I’m a pirate fan and a “Pirates of the Caribbean” (POC from here on) and, let’s face it, I’m jaded; that being said, the third film in the trilogy delivers – big time. For my money, I’d have to say that it has been the finest movie at the multiplex thus far into the summer movie season and that’s saying something. “Spiderman 3”, which was flawed but still well worth the price of admission to date was POC’s only competition to date. All that may change when “Transformers” is released on July Fourth but for now, Pirates is king – as it should be. I was too old to fully appreciate the “Transformers” craze of the eighties but piracy? Piracy is timeless.

I will tread lightly with the spoilers but if you wish to remain unscathed by the following paragraph and discover the joys of POC yourself at your local multiplex then skip this paragraph. …Still here? Great. Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (the screenwriters) have done a great job of tying up all of the loose ends. Really. All the plot points; just who does Elizabeth really love, Davy Jones lost love, Norrington, is Jack dead, the Kraken, Bootstrap Bill’s fate, will Will Turner get the chance to plunge the dagger into Davy Jones’ heart and the very fate of piracy on the high seas; all of ‘em, tied up nicely in a close to three hour long package. The time flew by in a swashbuckling blur and we were not disappointed. All of the actors did a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life once more and Gore Verbinski knows how to tell a story. Keith Richards delivers as Sparrow’s father. His scenes aren’t long but they are memorable. Even with all the resolutions in the plotlines there is the possibility of a part IV. Logistically speaking would Disney walk away from a film franchise that has netted them over 1.3 billion dollars? Nope – I don’t think so either. Go see it before you hear about what happens second hand (I hate when that happens).

We will be heading over to Geo-Woodstock 5 in the near future to soak up the festivities and atmosphere. We’ve already seen many friends and familiar faces. The event promises to be pretty amazing with the gathering of close to 2,000 cachers. There are different vendors, presentations, workshops and chances to meet a whole boatload of likeminded people. We’ll hang, maybe come back to the Hotel for some swimming and then head back for the pig roast. I hear it will be legendary. That’s a good thing since that is how I eat.

I’ll tell you all about it later. Until then, keep a weather eye on the horizon.