Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) by Chris H — 08 Feb 2014

Enjoyable adventure film that has aged due to being a bit too long and having a convoluted plot. Verbinski's direction keeps things exciting, with some excellent action sequences & visual effects (he cursed pirates are ingenious, even today).

The film does drag a bit, with too many characters & a plot that at one time doubles back on itself (it could easily been under two hours). Thankfully, the cast is game throughout, with Knightley giving a star-making turn while Rush chews scenery like any great character actor would.

The scene-steal-er, if not outright movie-steal-er, is Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, who creates one of the best new characters in recent film history. Even today, Sparrow is an entirely unique creation, almost a living cartoon while still managing to be smarter & deadlier than anyone else on screen.

Still a very good film but not the great one many remember it as.