Not bad

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2003)

I wasn't expecting much from this (after all it's from the same guy that brought us Armageddon). I ended up enjoying it however. Good popcorn fun. It did run a little long however.
SPOILER Some of the CGI ghost pirate scenes were over the top, for instance, their introduction as ghosts. There's a discontinuity between the live action and the CGI action and back to the live action. SPOILER OFF
Johnny Depp did a good job as the lead pirate and Bloom did okay as a lead although I thought his delivery was lacking occasionally. Keira Knightley was stunningly beautiful and did a decent job acting. Concerning the fights, as everyone is saying, they do go on a little too long and are also choreographed and scripted such that they could only happen in a movie. I prefer realism. The movie also manages to fit in every pirate clichÃ© it could: there's even an "Arrrrgh!". Summary: Go see it. Don't expect much but receive more than that.