See it for Johnny Depp

Rating: Null/10 (31 July 2003)

For a movie based off a Disneyland ride, this is a very pleasant surprise indeed. This movie manages to stay kid-friendly without /feeling/ kid-friendly - always a good thing. I know I hate to be patronized. "Pirates" also makes us appreciate pirates again, when it could have so easily failed; when was the last time there was a good pirate movie? I can't even remember, but it doesn't matter because this one is, amazingly, good. Orlando Bloom is de-elfed here, bland but passable as the romantic lead, and Keira Knightley continues to show her solidity as an actress, whether it be here or in the wonderful "Bend It Like Beckham." Geoffrey Rush makes us, if not sympathize with, at least understand where his villain is coming from, lending his subtle touch with emotion to counter every "yarr" and "matey."

But, of course, the real star here is Johnny Depp. Let's use a few cliches: Wildly charismatic, explosively talented - any others? Thousands, thousands, because Johnny Depp is surprising us once again with his choices as an actor and his considerable depth of emotion and range. Jack Sparrow is a fascinating character wholly because of Depp's willingness to seize the character and make it totally his own. Wearing inexplicable but attractive eyeliner, swaying and gesticulating drunkenly, Depp says each line with an originality that brings the script above and beyond where we could have reasonably expected it. Mildly amusing jokes are hilarious in his hands; an essential undercurrent of emotion and reality crackles in between his gold teeth and his swashbuckler's boots. He makes this movie. He drags it forward with the force of a hurricane. And that is, for the most part, why this pleasant high-seas adventure is worth the eight bucks.