BEST FILM ABOUT PIRATES...EVER!!!

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2004)

That's right. This is the best film about pirates and the high seas. Everything here works, this is the most perfect summer slice of blockbuster escapism that has emerged in a long time. High brow critics may bulk, but this is not meant to be a film that is all about characterization and emotion, it's meant to be fun, fun and fun and we get a lot of it.

First of all, Johnny Depp is great. The surprising thing about it is, he seems well suited to being in a blockbuster film, more so that I thought before, and even more surprising is that his role as Jack Sparrow isn't the type that is taking advantage of his movie star good looks. Here is has dirty teeth, rag tag long hair and is playing basically a crook, but a lovable one of course. His performance is perfect, from his mannerisms, the slurred speech and the Keith Richards like accent, he should definitely be a favorite for the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy. The rest of the cast are well filled out too, with Orlando Bloom magnificent as the straight man Will Turner, Kiera Knightly is very lovely as the damsel in distress and finally Geoffrey Rush is great as the evil villain with a nice sideline in comedy.
The script is surprisingly witty here, but coming from the writers of Shrek, this isn't surprising. It's not high art, but the script is a wonderful adventure laced with magnificent humor. Gore Verbinski as director handled the material rather well, which is a surprise. As the director of The Ring and Mousehunt, I wasn't sure if he were the right choice to be doing this film, especially considering that it is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, but alas, I wouldn't be surprised after this effort if Verbinski joins Michael Bay and Tony Scott in the esteemed list of Bruckheimer directors.
Of course the special effects are brilliant also. The sequences involving the dastardly crew of the Black Pearl turning into skeletons (the CGI monkey is terrifically well realized) are amongst some of the best special effects of 2003, while the shot of all the pirates of the Black Pearl walking on the ocean floor is spine tingling.
Overall this is a fantastic film and ranks as one of the best blockbusters to have emerged from this decade so far.