Depp makes this worth watching...

Rating: 6/10 (7 November 2003)

Fun stuff, and I think Depp is definitely the best part about the movie. My major qualm with the film is that it was way too long, this could have been cut down to a 90 minute non-stop adventure movie. But instead it gets a little repetitive and unnecessary at times (fighting the undead?).

The second major annoyance was that the fight scenes were shot too close. The cinematography was very fast paced and close up (remember Moulin Rouge?), there are really no long drawn out panoramic shots here. This may seem trivial, but I had trouble following the action, it seemed very rushed and inconsistent.
The acting was pretty good, given the fairly straightforward, cut and paste adventure movie script. With the exception of Depp's eccentricity, the dialogue is mainly to advance the plot instead of develop any interesting characters. Geoffrey Rush overacts as normal but is an entertaining villain. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are at times a bit stale, but otherwise do a decent job with the material.
Overall, Depp is entertaining, and good swashbuckling action is rare these days. I'd give it *** out of four stars...