Good, but does it deserve the insane amount of hype?

Rating: Null/10 (31 December 2003)

Before I begin I would like to ask what the heck "tedg" was talking about in his posting for this film. He/She spent their entire review talking about camera positions and then had the odd idea of putting the phrase "Spoilers herein" at the start of the message. What exactly did you ruin, tedg, the camera angles? And why did you compare this film to 12 Monkeys and Panic Room? How are those movies similar in any way in which you could compare and contrast them? And how exactly does one "steal" another person's camera trick? That's like someone doing a donut in their car and then being accused of stealing the maneuver from the original creator, Daryll Dwebster Donut. News flash: you can't get a patent on a camera trick. Maybe a camera, yes, but not a trick! If you feel like explaining yourself, e-mail me . Title the e-mail, "tedg's reasoning on his/her PotC:CotBP review."
Sorry, just felt like rambling there for a second. Now, on to the review! While I enjoy this film quite a lot, I have to question why everyone went stark raving mad over its arrival. Sure, I have no problem saying that Pirates is a very entertaining swashbuckler, but does it really need to be on a critic's Top 10 list this year? The film may be of good quality, but there are other, better movies out there which may need the acclaim. I'm not saying my opinion is definite, mind you, but just putting it out there for debate reasons.
Johnny Depp's performance is excellent, I'll give him that, what with his flamboyant interpretation of the character giving the film a big spark, but everyone on the planet has discussed him to the point where anything I say will be moot. So as for the rest of the film, I give it a definite thumbs up. The plot is well developed, the characters are appealing and believable, and I liked the gradual progression to the film's big climactic ending. However, I felt at times like it was almost too long. The recent Lord of the Rings flew by pretty quickly for me, but for some reason this film seemed to drag at certain points, as in where Jack Sparrow and the female main character get stuck on an island together. This isn't a major complaint, however, and I guess it shows how Disney was allowing the film room to grow.
All in all I think it's a very refreshing change for Disney to release a film like this. With a PG-13 rating which comes with boatloads of action and mild-violence, Pirates gives the usually squeaky clean image of Disney a nice dark side. Hopefully the sequel won't disappoint, and Disney won't force the filmmakers to dilute the action so that more kids will come to watch. I would hate to watch a dumbed down pirate movie with a PG rating, as it would just feel wrong.
Cutthroat Island this ain't; a great pirate film which champions the genre back to respectability after many major flops. 3/4 stars