The Good & Bad Of 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl'

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2007)

I very much enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it but lost interest on the second viewing, for some reason. It's the usual Disney adventure story which means the same good and bad traits I usually find, namely:
THE GOOD - Nice camera-work and very slick-looking on DVD. Interesting characters, mostly here the ones played by Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. It's difficult to find a role in which Depp doesn't play someone odd and/or fascinating. The story has a good mixture of drama, action, suspense and humor. Keira Knightley is attractive as the female lead and the story is interesting for the full 133 minutes (the last 10 minutes are ending credits.)
THE BAD - Once again, the messages are "laws are made to be broken;" "rebels in society are the good guys while authority figures are the villains," and the girl wants the poor man over the rich man, etc. etc. That all is so '60s clichéd by now, you'd think the Baby Boomers in Hollywood would grow up, but apparently not. These traits are in almost every film, including a worldly outlook on everything, which includes glorifying occult nonsense. Disney will never change.
OVERALL - A fun movie, thanks mainly to Depp, director Gore Verbnski and his cameramen, and successful enough to spawn a sequel.