Pirates is one of the best movies this year!

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2003)

That's right, "Pirates" manages to be an epic, entertaining movie on all levels. I was in shock at how good the movie actually turned out to be. It has all the formulas for success: a great cast (Depp is perfect, and everybody else is more than up to par.), fantastic visuals (with help from ILM), and a great story. Being the first Walt Disney movie (under the Disney banner) to be given a PG-13 rating, I was surprised at how violent the movie was. While it is nowhere near an 'R' rating, definately not a PG rating either. Parents, think twice before bringing the younger ones.
I can't think of too many complaints. Humor and action were well-balanced. I suppose some more sword-fighting would've been nice, but a minor gripe with an otherwise fantastic action-adventure. Compared to recent summer movies that weren't really all that good (Terminator 3, Matrix Reloaded, Hulk), it was nice to see another movie that, while no X2: X-Men United, manages to blow you out of the water! Hopefully, it will equally share the wealth with LXG (another great movie) when both open this week!
FINAL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10 (Great action-adventure will blow you out of the water!)