Fun but should have been better

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2003)

I'm surprised at the great reviews this movie is getting on the IMDB since it's definitely not a great movie. It's overlong, has an extremely weak ending, even by Hollywood standards, and boasts action sequences that are, to put it charitably, not particularly well-directed. In fact Cutthroat Island for all it's flaws had far superior action sequences. The only thing that really makes this movie better than this Summer's other Hollywood blow 'em up crap like Charlie's Angels Full Throttle and Terminator 3 is Johnny Depp. He brings great humor and eccentricity to every scene he is in and single handedly makes this pirate movie a hoot. If only the rest of the movie were half as good.