I love the smell of movie blockbuster season in the morning. A long line of anticipated sequels is waiting for us and this week we hop on a galleon and set sail towards the third installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" with Johnny Depp and friends, fittingly called "At World's End."

The previous movie left us on the edge of our seats as we witnessed the presumed end of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). We start this adventure with his former nemesis, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), spearheading a journey to rescue Jack from Davy Jones' locker. Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and his men are now in control of Davy Jones' (Bill Nighy) heart, meaning they can send his ghost ship wherever they want. Beckett's goal becomes to eradicate all of the remaining pirates. Jack, Barbossa, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) gather pirates from across the globe for an epic, high-seas battle.

There are also numerous subplots and side stories littered throughout this movie. At this point in the trilogy, a number of plotlines are already formed. However, this movie becomes a prime example of too much going on at once. "At World's End" is hard to follow at times so it ends up getting carried by its jokes and fight scenes.

The performances in the movie are nothing to frown about, but there simply isn't enough of Depp's marvelous portrayal of Jack. Everyone including Rush, Bloom and Knightley turn in great performances of the characters they have mastered.

For a movie that relies so heavily upon the epic sea battles for entertainment, they have grown a bit stale by this third installment. We've seen the big whirlpools and large cannons before and we've heard the tense music associated with it. The fights are long, drawn out and hard to follow as well. But they do look pretty neat and provide some thrills.

The series hasn't necessarily run out of gas, but its focus has become a bit misguided. "At World's End" is the final piece in a very entertaining set of blockbusters. Just don't expect to find anything too out of the ordinary at world's end.

{M3review

'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'

{M3Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley

Director: Gore Verbinski

Run time: 2 hours, 48 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence and some frightening images

Now playing at: College Square, Crossroads 12 and Waverly Palace

***1/2 (out of *****)