July 12, 2003 -- “Pirates of the Caribbean” is an old-fashioned swashbuckler adventure movie with glitzy 21st century special effects. It is a bit overlong and quite bloody for a brainless action movie, but it is generally fun to watch.

Johnny Depp (“From Hell”) stars as Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate with a score to settle with another pirate named Barbossa (played by Geoffrey Rush of “Frida”). Barbossa stole his ship, The Black Pearl, from him and left him stranded on a remote, deserted island. Sparrow happens to meet with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom of “Lord of the Rings”), a blacksmith who wants to rescue his beloved Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley of “Bend it Like Beckham”). Barbossa has kidnapped Swann. Sparrow sees the rescue as a way for him to exact revenge on Barbossa. Turner needs Sparrow's knowledge of Barbossa to locate the pirate. Defeating Barbossa and his pirate crew won't be easy, however, because they can't be killed. They exist as undead beings because they stole gold protected by an ancient curse.

The film has a lot of action. There are fist fights, sword fights, gun fights, cannon battles between ships on the high seas and lots of people swinging on lots of ropes from lots of yardarms. While the sword fights aren't all that great, most of the action is entertaining. The old upside-down undersea rowboat trick in the film was taken right from that swashbuckling classic, "The Crimson Pirate," starring Burt Lancaster. The special effects are impressive. One good effect has the cursed pirates appearing normal, except when moonlight shines upon them, then they appear as skeletons. In several scenes, the pirates lose their flesh and then gain it back quickly as they pass from moonlight into shadow and back again. This digital effects process is very seamless. Other effects are used to create mysterious ocean vistas, including a graveyard of lost ships.

Johnny Depp is very entertaining as the quick-witted captain Sparrow. He talks with a smooth, lazy English accent and wears a lot of makeup. He reminded me of the crew of that funny Saturday Night Live skit about the pirates aboard the “Raging Queen,” a ship with lots of manly men. “You wouldn't happen to have any men on board, would you?” Geoffrey Rush makes a wonderful pirate. He plays a man totally a ease with his evil side. He seems to be having a lot of fun with this role. Most of the rest of the cast play characters with an average I.Q. of about 50. Orlando Bloom is effective as the straight man in this pirate comedy. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2003 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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