Johnny Depp saves 'Lord of the Rings' meets 'The Mummy'

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2003)

Let's get one thing straight up front and that is that I am only comparing this film to 'Lord of the Rings' in terms of its gothic action sequences with the ghostly skeletons. The lighting on these scenes is almost identical to some parts of 'LOTR'. The shadowy cascade of computer special effects mimic parts of 'The Mummy' with a hero and the damsel in distress fully in hand.
Other than that, Johnny Depp is absolutely outstanding. His charasmatic and eccentric qualities save this movie and it ranks a 9 out of 10 whenever he is speaking or engaged in the important moments. Geoffrey Rush is also quite good in his role but when the other actors are present, the film comes off as superficial.
Directed like a pure popcorn summer movie, it's odd that this really isn't a family film because a lot of the dark moments of horror are definitey NOT for young children. The film also suffers from overlength at almost two and a half hours. The attention span of children and teenagers is being stretched at such a length.
This movie is worth a look but that's about it. It makes a good movie as an alternative plan to what you're going to do. Our party was rained out at golf and we decided to take in this flick. To make a special trip out to see it would have been a task and Hollywood is already full of tired stories like this and the search (if there is one by the movie industry) for originality goes on!