Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Whatever charm and novelty the blockbuster franchise may have had is long gone now. Even Johnny Depp’s once-amusing turn as Capt. Jack Sparrow comes off as an obnoxious drunk making wisecracks at the screen. The story is either incoherent or nonexistent (take your pick) and the accents all but unintelligible, even though director Gore Verbinski paces every line as if the actors were talking to a slow-witted, slightly deaf child (contributing to the movie’s stagnant 168-minute running time). Orlando Bloom is as limp as ever and Keira Knightley’s patented snarling-tomboy routine gets another go-round (if she can do anything else, she should trot it out one of these days). Geoffrey Rush’s genial hamming comes off best, but even he can’t withstand the vulgar clamor of Hans Zimmer’s braying musical score.