Exciting and sexy fantasy film (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2003)

"Pirates of the Caribbean" is a fine fantasy movie. The poster alone conveys all the elements to be found here: action, mystery, piracy and a hint of sexy romance. The result is a slick and exciting film that entertains from beginning to end.
A brief sequence at the beginning shows a young girl, at sea with her sailor father (Jonathan Pryce), retrieve a mysterious medallion from the neck of a drowning boy. The young girl grows up into the beautiful Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and the young man, who has admired from afar, is now a local sword-maker Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) in a Mediterranean coastal town. Chaos ensues Elizabeth is captured by undead pirates led by Captain Barrabosa (Geoffrey Rush), who need Elizabeth's medal to restore their souls. With the aid of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), a mad pirate, Turner sets after Barrabosa, intending to rescue Elizabeth....
The story is excellent, very conventional but enjoyably so. The usual pirate cliches are in evidence; buried treasure, scurvy seadogs, buxom damsels in distress and dashing heroes. All of this works through a line of outrageous humour that satirizes the kind of thing the film is paying homage to.
The technical aspect of the film is marvellous. Well lit and directed with sumptous costumes, scenery and props, it looks great. Special effects are a good mix of CGI and model work. Fight scenes are fantastic, the first duel between Turner and Sparrow, and the last between Sparrow and Barrabosa being especially inventive and memorable.
Johnny Depp all but steals the movie as mad pirate Sparrow. With a raspy Cockney English accent, and a sense of humour that's ahead of his time, it's a very memorable performance. Only Geoffrey Rush as the villain can really stand out with him on board, and Rush turns in his usual fine performance. Orlando Bloom plays the straight good guy role he's fashioned so well in "Lord of the Rings", and Keira Knightly is gorgeous and spunky as the girl of his dreams. Jonathan Pryce and Jack Davenport are on hand to play the standard British fops.
Never dragging on, there is not a moment wasted here. They certainly don't make them like this any more.