Depp's performance is a must see.

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2003)

The plot of POTC has been outlined in some of the other comments so I won't rehash that. The film itself does have some major flaws, firstly it is about thirty minutes too long and could easily have stood a little trimming. Second, Jack Davenport's performance is abysmal for what is a small but pivotal role. Geoffrey Rush does ok as do Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom but they all blown off the screen by the mighty Johnny Depp. Basing his performance on early 70s Keith Richards Depp struts around the screen and makes the film his own, he is helped by the fact that he gets most of the film's best lines but nevertheless it is difficult to imagine anyone but Depp pulling this off. It is his most demented, brilliant performance since Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and one of the best of his career.
This film could easily have failed. It is a summer blockbuster based on an amusement park ride and as such normally the kind of film I wouldn't even bother to see, but, it has such a great sense of mindless fun that it proves enchanting. See it, if only for Depp.