Critic should have to walk the plank

IN her review of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” [“Swash, Not Sense,” May 23], Carina Chocano writes that she had difficulty tracking “the many plots, subplots, digressions, divagations and flights of whimsy,” so much so that she calls for a flowchart to help her map a course through the pirates’ journey into well-known legend, sea lore and maritime mythology.

Chocano fails to recognize the thematic link among the various subplots that fuse them tightly into a gripping adventure that evokes rather profound thoughts about love and betrayal, duty and honor, and the necessity of righting the balance of universal justice by taking responsibility for one’s actions regardless of the consequences. To be sure, these insights into social behavior and the human condition are mind-boggling when one recognizes that this was all based on a children’s theme park ride, but they are not so disguised by the swashbuckling action that they cannot be understood by a child who may have been inspired to see the movie after experiencing the ride.

MICHAEL J. PARMER

Downey