Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Review

I swear on the pirate's code, there are no spoilers contained in this review! 

The Case

When Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl hit the theaters, I didn't have any expectations.  In fact, I wasn't even sure what the premise of the movie was thanks to the vague previews put out by Disney.  All I knew was that it was based on the ride.  Animatronic pirates.  I wasn't holding my breath.  And because of that, the movie took my breath away completely.  It was great!  Hands down, my favorite film of the year!

The Good

I was blown away by the movie.  The plot was tight and very fun.  I couldn't believe they actually pulled off cursed, skeleton-like pirates, but they did!  It had all the feel of a classic pirate movie, too, with swashbuckling adventure, sword fights, intrigue, broadside cannon battles, and forbidden treasure.  The cast was superb, especially Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush.  Whoever chose these two to play the part of pirate captains deserves a substantial shout-out (and maybe a raise).  Again, all of the elements were there, and this film just turned out to be solid entertainment, which is rarer in today's blockbuster arena than I'd like.

The Bad

At the time the movie came out, I was riding the high of Orlando Bloom, just like most young women my age.  After all, he was, like, sooo dreamy as quiet, confident elf Legolas in The Lord of the Rings!  (Yeah, I'm over that now, just in case you're wondering.)  However, even with that in his favor, he didn't impress me overly much in Pirates.  Plus, there was about as much chemistry between Bloom and love interest Knightley as there was between Johnny Depp and that accursed monkey.  Seperately, Knightley and Bloom were adequate.  Together, they fizzled.  Regardless, though, the movie suspended my disbelief when it came to their attempts at longing looks.  I was just thrilled to be along for the ride!

The Verdict

Five stars!  Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was just wonderful!