Bloated, muddled and over-long

Rating: 3/10 (26 May 2007)

Dear oh dear. 168 minutes was an hour too long. There were far too many plot lines, far too many plodding, irrelevant scenes and the end result was a confusing, drawn-out mess. Yes, it had things to recommend it - the finale was exciting, Geoffrey Rush was terrific, Depp was, well, Depp and the film looked fantastic.
But I was disappointed. No way should this movie have been three hours. When I saw it the kids in the cinema grew restless very quickly and some parents had to take their kids out early. Nearly three hours for a family movie? What on earth were they thinking of? As well as the afore-mentioned many, many plots, I have to say that Bloom and Knightley's performances left me cold. I found myself shrugging my shoulders over their romance and Knightley's rallying speech, intended no doubt to be inspiring and moving, was laughable.
The next one should be a much shorter, uncomplicated romp. I don't mean dumb it down - just don't stuff it so full of plot it has to be this gargantuan length. Some films need to be long - the Lord of the Rings movies for example - this one didn't have to be and shouldn't have been.
Three stars because of Rush and the visuals.