oh come ON now...

Rating: Null/10 (9 March 2004)

People who hated this movie must have something wrong with them...
The snobs who only watch "films" can have a ball tearing it apart, but I think it's great.
I'm a huge Depp fan. Seen every movie he's in- and I mean EVERY movie (not just the typical "I've seen Edward Scissor Hands and What's Eating Gilbert Grape so I'm an expert" thing...). I've had to search high and low for some of them, but I did. I'm a huge fan. That being said, I admit that I was very skeptical when I first heard of Pirates coming out... I smelled perhaps another 9th Gate or something. I was saddened. BUT- I do happen to love pirates in general, and I will always see a movie that he makes, so off to the show I went.
And I was utterly and amazingly ecstatic. It was a GREAT movie. Yeah, yeah- so it was FUN instead of heart wrenching. Sometimes that's good- certainly it doesn't mean it's BAD just because it isn't a drama... or even because it doesn't fit into a particular genre. As billions of people have aleady said, Depp steals the show. His character is ridiculous and great. The music is really wonderful. Costumes are fun. Jokes are fun, on high and low levels. I really loved the effects of the pirates in and out of the moonlight. I'm really surprised that so many people have called the plot as a down point. I think it's neither overly simplistic nor convoluded. I thought it was clever- a twist on a typical story line. After all, we're talking about pirates here- certain things HAVE to be involved (treasure, ships, swashbuckling...). And we're talking about Johnny Depp also here- so there has to be some oddness to it as well. I think perhaps people who didn't understand the plot should pay a bit more attention...
I'm a person who gets uncomfortable in theater seats VERY quickly, and even so I could not believe how quickly the movie flew by. I wasn't bored once- a sign that the movie is more than a stupid thrill-getter. I actually saw it multiple times in theater (I kept having to BRING people ;)), and own the DVD. I couldn't believe it was over 2 hours- it REALLY didn't feel like it. Sometimes, I think people just like to complain for the sake of complaining.
Definite good entertainment. Excellent on several levels. I think my only complaints would be that- 1: I felt Orlando Bloom's character was a little "meh". There either wasn't a lot of depth, or he was over-emphasizing what I considered unimportant attributes. 2: I wasn't thrilled with Keira Knightly, and I'm not sure why. Didn't severely dislike her performance, but it didn't blow me away, either.
I would have to rank it as one of my favorite movies... which also means I really hope they don't do a sequal.