Saved by the last 2/3!!!

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2007)

The first hour, for me, went by so slowly and unexcitingly. The scenes of multiple Johnny Depps were too stagy, hammy and self-indulgent, not to mention too weird. (Sorry, Jess and Helene!) I thought that Chow Yun Fat was under-used (even 'mis'used) in his role. However, once that Council Meeting of the Pirates got underway, I got the Pirates movie I was waiting very eagerly for!
The last 2/3's contained the swashbuckling action, drama, comedy and romance of the high level we have come to expect from this franchise. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley look good together and do very well in their action scenes, as well as their "wedding" scene. There was no scene here that was as distinctive as the "Fighting on the Rolling Wheel" scene in Pirates 2, but there were several well-choreographed fight scenes here as well.
I was not too happy with the Calypso scenes, nor how that was resolved. They way it was built up, I was expecting a bigger revenge disaster, than the rain and whirlpool we got.