I would pay $6.50 to watch this movie

     I went into “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” expecting a cheesy pirate movie. What I got was an entertaining cheesy pirate movie. This is very much a summer blockbuster film; a lot of action, good special effects, silly characters and a plot devoid of substance. In other words, a fun movie to watch.

    Orlando Bloom plays the main character, a pirate’s orphan turned blacksmith’s apprentice. An early scene in which he engages in a sword fight with Johnny Depp’s outrageous pirate character takes place in the smithy, a scene which is very reminiscent of several historical fiction flying kung fu movies of the early to mid 1990’s, in particular the mill scene in “Flying Daggers” and the boat scene in “Iron Monkey”. This is a very good thing, and done really well in “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

    In fact, all of the fight scenes are done well, with minimal cuts and just generally good swashbuckling. I was, however, a bit disappointed. The whole piratical era in Western history is a very fertile ground for the imagination, and it would be nice to se more movies based on that theme. Since the heyday of Errol Flynn and his like, we have seen precious few pirate movies, and that is a great shame. Hopefully, the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean” will spur a move in this direction in cinema.

    As for the breakdown, the acting is terrific, despite the somewhat simplistic characters. The plot is there, and has no real surprises in it, but the dialogue is snappy and well-executed. The special effects are stunning, the set and costume design are superb, the score is good, and the direction is very well done. The biggest problem with this movie is its simplicity and lack of substance. It is, simply put, an entertaining bit of fluff. Don’t get me wrong, well done fluff is still enjoyable, but it simply isn’t “filling,” as it were.

    Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush are all outstanding in this movie. Depp’s character is just hilarious, and he puts a real touch of outlandish pizzazz in a movie which really needs it. Orlando Bloom plays a staunch hero surprisingly well, and kudos for managing to not remind me too much of his more well-known role in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Geoffrey Rush is really appealing in his role as a cutthroat villain, and reminds me very much of his part in “Mystery Men”. Jack Davenport also deserves mention for his role as the stiff-necked British officer, which he executed admirably.

    Overall, this movie is fun to watch and I’d suggest it for anybody not in the mood for anything serious. It’s a good movie, but it’s a bit on the light side. This is to be expected, but it got a bit grating for me. Don’t expect great historical accuracy, but do expect an entertaining spectacle with good fight scenes and clever lines.