Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End — It’s way too long and massively convoluted and ultimately just plain silly. But still, it’s a lot of fun a lot of the time. The third movie in the freakishly successful Pirates franchise feels substantial and looks impressive and fulfils the hype surrounding it in a way the other thirds — Spidey and Shrek — haven’t so far. Having said that, it is, of course, a giant meandering mess that leaves you feeling as if you’ve been tossed about on the high seas for three hours, but theoretically that’s also part of the allure of these movies. And yet, within the enormous action sequences, there are enough individual “wow” moments that make you appreciate just how inventive and complicated an achievement this was. As for the plot — not that it ever matters — this one’s more confusing than ever. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) must rescue the wily Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the purgatory of Davy Jones’ Locker, where he wound up last year at the end oI>Dead Man’s Chest<$>. They also must round up the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, sort of a UN of unsavoury behaviour, hoping that their combined power can stop the Machiavellian Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) from ridding the world of pirates. PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure, violence and some frightening images. 167 minutes. Two and a half stars. — Christy Lemire