Good but overrated, too.

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2004)

8.0 is a much too high rating for this good but not great movie. I like the fact that a movie finally does justice to pirate stories. It's strange that this genre, which sure holds a few adventures in store, hasn't been too successful until "Pirates Of The Caribbean" hit the screen. Anyway, "Pirates..." is just that, a funny adventure in the tradition of "Indiana Jones" and "The Mummy". It's got everything: ghost pirates, abandoned islands, a beautiful governor's daughter and a brave young hero (or two heroes that is). The dialog is witty although I feel that it could be even wittier. The direction and the special effects were not too special (nothing compared to Gore Verbinski's great job for 'The Ring'). It was funny to see Steve from "Coupling" and Gareth from "The Office" on the big screen for the first time. They should have brought Jeff in as well! All in all "Pirates..." is a fine popcorn movie and surely the summer's best Blockbuster. I hope that maybe after the success of this movie, Hollywood thinks about turning "Monkey Island" (the classic adventure game by LucasArts) into a movie. Just a thought.