"You best start believing in ghost stories (viewer). You're in one!" Hang on... We're just watching...

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2003)

Fabled as being the fastest and most powerful ship on the seaboard, "The Black Pearl" reigns terror on all ships it encounters. With its legendary Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his crew of scoundrels damned to scour the world with the gold of Cortes, accursed gold, which, if possessed leaves one as a mere shadow of a human; a skeleton, invulnerable, yet unable to enjoy the benefits of humanity, even when in human form. It is this quest that brings them to a mooring town in the Caribbean. Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) the young governess who possesses the final gold piece, which holds the power to restore the pirates of The Black Pearl to their former human selves, is torn between love with a blacksmith , William Turner (Bloom), whom she had rescued as a child, and Norrington (Davenport), a Commodore, and friend to Swann's father, Governor Weatherby Swann.
Meanwhile, Jack Sparrow (Depp), a seemingly inept (and somewhat gay) pirate, is captured and prisoned.
The plot thickens when the governess (and the coin) are seized, and brought to the resident island of the pirates; an island which can only be found if you have been their before.
Sparrow and Turner league with one another to save the damsel and defeat the pirates of the Caribbean...
Brilliance in itself. Johnny Depp recovers from his recent slump and comes out with an Oscar worthy performance of the renowned, yet inept pirate Jack Sparrow. He retains a somewhat drunken stupor throughout the film, yet still is able to fully form a complex character.
Bloom too was good; He far outdoes his previous role of Legolas Greenleaf, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His usual somewhat boring demeanor in films is actually erased from his role and actually allows me to respect the man.
Geoffrey Rush was a disappointment though. Since his Oscar winning performance in "Shine" he has not really pulled off a good role, sadly enough. This was just another confirmation of this slump... Hopefully soon he will yet again find his niche.
Other than this, all the other actors played exceptionally well, and provided a good 143 min of film.
I definitely recommend this film to anyone, as this is not only a swashbuckling film, but a comedy, romance, and to some horrific... Though the skeletons were really quite humorous, and the monkey remained cute... Anyways, four fingers and a stub out of five.