It all adds up, at Worlds' End

Ay matey, it all comes together in the third and final segment of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - At Worlds' End. The show gets better with hindsight than upon your first viewing of it, so buy the DVD set and watch it at your pleasure, and to heighten the experience, watch it following 'Dead Man's Chest'.
That's what I did - I watched the second of the Pirates of the Caribbean before heading to the cinemas to catch the finale. Boy did that help. See, there is so much happening in the second that is all setting up to the third movie and our memories are weak, especially for the fine details that the creators of the Pirates of the Caribbean created.
In 'At Worlds' End', the East India Company continues on its quest for world domination. Championing its cause is the meticulous and scheming businessman Lord Beckett. A gripping, albeit tad contrived, opening scene of the execution of pirates and pirate-associates is all you need to understand the horror of the EIC's regime. To battle their takeover, or so it seems at first, Barbossa, Turner, Swann and Tia Dalma team up with the Black Pearl's crew to travel to Davy Jones' locker where all men who die at sea go, and where Jack Sparrow is. To do this, they first head to the lazy fishing village and port of Singapore to 'borrow' a ship, crew and navigational charts from pirate lord Sao Feng (special appearance by Chow Yun-Fatt!). By hook and crook, they manage that and set sail for Worlds' End.
The straightforward storyline ends here; the plot thickens, and we're talking deep thickening. Being pirates, it's 'each man for himself' so it is no surprise Barbossa, Turner, Swann, Dalma and Sparrow each have their own agendas, some of which conflict. Thus, what ensues is a movie layered with internal moral dilemmas (Sparrow's), conflicting interests between love and piety (Turner's), betrayals - double and triple-crossing ones (everyone's), love-hate relationships between man and goddess (guess)... It's a lot to take in.
It is overwhelming at first sight. So the most you can probably get out of it is enjoy the mind-blowing ship battles, pirate conferences (which resemble Taiwan political meetings), and laugh at the comedic moments (there are many) while trying to make some sense of all the intertwining plots. In the end, it all adds up when you piece it altogether, just like how the pirate lords put all their pieces of eight together. When that happens, you will marvel at how all loose ends are tied.
Strangely enough, I did not enjoy the wit of 'witty Jack Sparrow' as much as I did in the first two installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean. For this, I find fault with the script writer's obsession with writing lines especially for Sparrow's character - a flaw which appeared in the previous installment already, what with the pseudo-absurdist lines given to Sparrow (Depp). Swann and Turner (Knightley and Bloom) win you over with their pirating efforts and bittersweet tale of romance. Barbossa (Rush) is a thoroughly charming mad captain and might I dare say he shared the spotlight with Depp. Bill Nighy milked his character Davy Jones for all he's worth, putting up an emotionally-stirring performance that makes your heart go out to the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, tentacles and all. The animators, by the way, deserve much credit for the amazing realness and naturalness of Jones' tentacle movement, among the other visual feats of the movie.
Epic to the core, 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds' End' does not come across as Hollywood Blockbuster, though it has all the makings of one, for one key reason: It has uncompromising vision which does not give in or bend to the audience's wishes. The movie knew what it wanted to do, knew how to do it well, and did. Hats off to director Gore Verbinski for crafting this spectacular closing installment to a wonderful trilogy.
The Pirates of the Caribbean brought us on a thrill ride and didn't mind how much it tossed and bruised us as it turned many a corner and swooshed over speed bumps. Some of us may fall out half way through the ride, some who finish it probably won't stomach it, but for those who do, we walk away knowing it was a hell of a ride.
And we'll probably ride it again. And again.