Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

At 169 minutes, At World’s End still needs a map, a glossary and a nap. Everybody betrays everybody so often that I stopped tracking alliances and just followed whoever had the best hat. Gore Verbinski goes gloriously weird when Jack Sparrow is marooned in Davy Jones’ Locker, bickering with a crew made entirely of himself on a ship parked in a desert. Then the plot drags everyone back into meetings. Pirate meetings. Chow Yun-fat shows up with an incredible look and barely gets to do anything. Bill Nighy still makes a face full of tentacles feel sad. The finale inside a giant whirlpool is spectacular, and someone gets married mid sword fight because there’s no time later. A reported $300M budget is up on screen in every frame, and it made $961.7 million worldwide. A 5.3 because the last battle is a blast and the two hours before it are a council meeting in costume. $212 says you try to explain the plot to someone afterward and give up by the third betrayal.

What works: The surreal Davy Jones’ Locker sequence and a whirlpool finale that’s as big as blockbuster battles get.

What doesn’t: The plot is a knot of double-crosses and pirate council meetings, and it runs far too long to justify them.

Who it’s for: Fans who want the trilogy wrapped up and don’t mind spending most of an evening getting there.