Too Many Rules to Follow

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2006)

I certainly enjoyed this movie. Johnny Depp's mugging and swashbuckling. His sly expressions. The conflict with the power structure which would like to see him hanged. The special effects are quite impressive. There are two problems that kept me from giving this the ultimate rating. It is way too long. I don't know if they edited anything out of this. The thing with the ghost ship was endless. Secondly, like a video game, there were all these rules we were supposed to remember. The ones that mortals are supposed to play by and the ones the ghosts must play by. I'm starting to feel that for some films, we should be given a handbook to keep it all straight. Perhaps an in-service of some kind. When this is mostly a pirate movie, it is great fun. There are battles; there is tongue in cheek commentary. There are beautiful women who can stand up to any man; you name it. When the supernatural element enters in, it is also fun. But there's something about being forced to kill people that are already dead. Just exactly is it that you must do? Again, play by the rules. Anyway, it's a wonderful romp. It almost gets resolved in the end, and we're ready for more.