Ages well

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2006)

I have just watched the original Pirates of the Caribbean for the third time. The first time was in the theater in '03, and the second time was when my brother bought the DVD in '04. While the first viewing was fun, I remember the second viewing as rather pedestrian. But I'm glad I watched it again now (after having seen and enjoyed the sequel), because I wasn't bored for a second of it. The dialog is sharp and funny (at times even intelligent), the story progresses very well, and the production values are top of the line (even if '03 CGI looks dated now - but by "production values" I mostly mean the beautiful sets and environments).
I was struck by how much of the action of the sequel is prefigured in the original movie, and how some puzzling details that are explained in the sequel were never revealed in the first movie (such as the "compass that doesn't point north", which only in the sequel is revealed to be pointing at what the holder most desires).
So while I originally rated the first (and the second) movie a 7 out of 10, I will now emend that to an 8, for both movies. They're a couple of great romps, packed with action, ideas, characterization and eye candy.
The third movie, unfortunately, was a huge disappointment for me... :-(