A nice, entertaining and funny adventure

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2005)

Ever played Monkey Island? This film is a pirate movie in true Monkey Island style. In case you've never played that game it means lot of fun, crazy pirates, a beautiful lady and a bunch of zombie like pirates.
First of all the story is good. The whole love thing is simple and not original, but who cares?! It works and the setting, characters and the whole curse thing spices up the story a lot and makes it very interesting. The dialog is very nice. It's funny, but not all too funny. That keeps the focus on the story. The characters are good and they work well together creating contrasts and showing development through the film.
Johnny Depp is very good. He pulls off this whole pirate act really good and manage to take on an English accent. Orlando Bloom is nothing worse. His performance in believable and good. All together the cast is strong and preform very well. The use of English actors makes the whole thing more believable.
The effects are well done. In the beginning you'll see some not exactly impressive CGI, but the rest is much better. The skeletons looks good and the explosions too. The fights are well coordinated and the rhythm of the fencing in the blacksmiths workshop is really nice.
The music is also good. It's piraty and gets you in the mood. It builds up around the action and fits the movie very well. You don't pay attention too it, witch is a good thing. It means it fits the movie and the action and subconscious just affects your feelings like it should.
It's a good looking movie, meaning the cinematography is good. The composition is good and so is the lightning. No shots stood out as extraordinary, but no one stood out as bad neither. It's nice shooting with some playful shots here and there and all together good cinematography.
The sets and decorations also make this movie good looking. The mix of CGI and real stuff is good and the look of the costumes and the settings are believable and nice.
All together I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It was way better than I expected. It added a lot of comedy, but still focused on the story and managed to remain serious. I would definitely recommend this movie if your looking for a high quality, cool and funny adventure movie to watch.