The Best Pirate In the World!

Rating: 10/10 (25 July 2003)

This movie was fabulous. I don't think I've enjoyed a movie in the theater this much in a really long time, and I see lots of movies. The critics mostly gave this movie mediocre to good ratings, but I wonder if they were at the same movie I was, because it was great!
I have heard that this is the first PG-13 Disney movie, and it certainly has more blood and violence in it than most Disney live-action films, but compared to most adventure movies it's quite tame. The skeletons and sword-fights are realistic and well-done without being real enough to be scary to anyone but small children. I'd recommend it as a family movie, having watched it with my parents and friends.
It's also a teen/twenty-something movie, with particular appeal for fans of Johnny Depp, as well as for everyone who drooled over Orlando Bloom as Legolas in "The Lord of the Rings." My male friends, who found Keira Knightly so attractive in "Bend It Like Beckham," may not even recognize her in this movie because she has such a different look, but it's a look that's much more typical of a romantic heroine.
In "Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl," Orlando Bloom shines as the very good-looking Will Turner, and Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swann plays opposite him with vim and verve. Will has some wonderfully swashbuckling duels, and just the right touch of romance, adventure, derring-do and endless courage as he faces up to his personal tragedies and revelations about the past without dwelling on it or making the movie sad. Elizabeth is a little different from the usual fainting females whom men are trying to rescue, because she isn't afraid to get in a boat alone and row after Will when he needs rescuing.
One of the best special effects is when the pirates are moving in and out of shafts of moonlight, particularly the duel between Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. Johnny Depp, who played Captain Swallow, seemed a bit tipsy throughout the movie, and his odd behavior and wry wit cracked me up time and again. Jonathan Pryce, though his part is small, is quite enjoyable as the prissy governor, Elizabeth's father. Another highlight is the monkey, whose antics are possibly the most freaky of any in the movie. I couldn't understand the talking parrot most of the time, and the guy with the glass eye who was supposed to be comic relief wasn't all that funny, but generally the humor in this movie was great; not too heavy-handed or dirty, just highly entertaining.
If you get a chance to watch it, I hope that you enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean as much as I did! Go see it! 10 out of 10.