Re"Depp"ining the action hero

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2003)

To see the previews with Johnny Depp with Tammy Faye Bakker-like eye-liner caked on, I thought, "Finally a movie that makes Cutthroat Island look reputable." But after viewing the film, I realized that only someone as quirkily eccentric as Depp could have pulled off this role. Most of the fun stems from Jack Sparrow's charismatic bumblings. You can't help but like the guy. I think the spark of the movie would have been lost if they had cast a lunkhead action hero. You don't need Ahh-nold for the best action movie of the summer.