Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley
Directed by: Gore Verbinsky

Pirates of the Caribbean was the biggest surprise for me this summer. I expected a light entertaining movie with a stupid plot but I got the best movie of the summer (perhaps for the year) with memorable characters. What's that? Characters? Well, characters are like the people you see in most other movies except they might have personalities and/or be funny.

It seemed to me that this movie wasn't as hyped as other summer fare this year. What it had going for it is an interesting story, good special effects and great directing. Of course, we've seen all of these things before leading one to conclude that what makes this movie excellent is Johnny Depp as the pirate Jack Sparrow. He plays the character like a burned out rock star which is both original and fun. For all the screen time the character had you would think it would get boring to watch him. But every gesture and every line was done with such consistent wit, originality and charm that you could watch Jack Sparrow for hours and not get bored.

Keeping in mind that this isn't a drama and the characters are still two dimensional, they are still relatable. The protagonist of the story, a mild-mannered blacksmith played by a convincing Orlando Bloom. His love interest is the feisty young Elizabeth Swann played by Keira Knightley. I found both fun to watch. They each had their little quirks and ambitions. Most movies this year featured what seemed to be organic action figures or Barbie dolls intent on saving the world. I guess these have their place too, but Pirates of the Caribbean does the viewer one better. From the cheesiest background character to Geoffrey Rush as the devious captain, you get a sense of all the characters and what they're about. They all did their share in advancing the story line and were funny in doing so.

I also loved the dialogue in this movie. It wasn't too campy or too long winded. It was just one witty line after the other. This moved the story along nicely. Without trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about, I found the camera work beautiful also. I suppose movies that take place on the high seas lend themselves to large panoramic shots. But their were also some neat little camera tricks like the first shot of Jack Sparrow. We see him in a grandiose pose on the mast of a ship and when the camera cuts to the next shot we see his dilapidated craft sinking into the ocean. We get a sense of the character right away and it sets the humorous tone for the rest of the movie.

All this to say, it was intelligently done. Great special effects complimented the masterful acting and directing, instead of the other way around and we get a terrific movie. This one is a must see!

MastaCSG
King

DroopyMcC		Excellent! I was waiting for this movie for months and it didn't disappoint. Depp proves again why he's one of the best actors around. Great fun at the movies. See it...
King