If you're ever in the mood for just a flat out entertaining flick, you can't go wrong with 'Curse of the Black Pearl". I wasn't writing these reviews when this movie first came out, didn't even know there was such a thing as IMDb. So I'm finally getting back to it this many years later and even though I'd forgotten a lot about the story, I was blown away all over again by the outrageous antics of Captain Jack Sparrow and those transition scenes where the skeleton pirates manifest in the moonlight. In fact, the story itself might be incidental to the special effects and physical stunts that highlight the action in the film. Johnny Depp of course makes the movie with his swish-buckling (yeah, I misspelled it on purpose) approach to the character, and you couldn't ask for a more fetching lady in distress than Keira Knightley, although she managed to hold her own against most of those menacing pirates quite nicely. Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush round out the rest of the principal cast, and each did a superb job. I've never gotten beyond this movie's sequel, 'Dead Man's Chest', but watching this one again inspires me to go forward and check out all the rest.

What a great line to describe probably the greatest pirate movie ever. Certainly, it isn't perfect, a bit over the top, yet filled with characters that you love to hate or you can't resist rooting for. Thanks to the performance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, this has become a long-lasting franchise of Disney car and love the many sequels that followed up aren't as good, Jack has remained consistently strong in the ones where he was given a great opportunity to show off his huge talents.

Johnny was justifiably nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this, and is ably supported by Geoffrey Rush as the ghostly Captain Barbarossa and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner (brought up as a pirate until he was rescued at sea as a child),and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, the daughter of the governor of a Caribbean island.

In his performance, Depp gives several insights into the real character of Jack Sparrow, and it is debated whether he was just an eccentric drunk or possibly gay or bisexual. Certainly, the slaps he gets from various women throughout the film debate the second point, but other insinuations indicate that he had prolactivities. Sparrow and Turner are rivals at first until they must join forces to rescue Elizabeth who is kidnapped by Barbarossa. she goes to a frightening sequence when she learns of who they really are, and that brings terrific elements of horror into the film.

Fans of the Disneyland ride will be gleefully surprised to see various elements of it from the drunk man sleeping with tags, the jailed men trying to get a dog to bring over the key or the various battle fights at sea. they are spread throughout the film so you don't feel like you taking the ride and then gone back into a plot, so it makes it fun for experienced riders of that tourist attraction as they pop up.

The terrific makeup, costumes, photography and music add to the sensational performances. This takes the best elements of all the classic pirate movies (from "Treasure Island" to "Captain Kidd") and adds a reality with the violence and filth and crudeness, but somehow, some of the pirates (especially Sparrow) are quite loveable in a strange way. This is non-stop action, filled with humor both physical and verbal, and some of it in spite of the lack of etiquette of the characters is subtlety classy. I can see myself returning to this every couple of years because certainly, like a trip to Disney, it's a ride that you don't want to miss when you have the opportunity.

This first of the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, Curse Of The Black Pearl was a milestone in the career of star Johnny Depp. I always liked Depp since 21 Jump Street and he always chose quirky products where he did great as an actor, but the films were more often than not less than successful commercially. With this film first and foremost Depp got himself linked to a commercial success that spawned several sequels. His box office was now secure.

But also this is a once in a lifetime chance to do a part that calls for some of the most outrageous overacting you'll ever see. I think Johnny Depp might have been channeling Robert Newton in one of his pirate films, be it Blackbeard or Treasure Island.

In fact the plot is a lot like Treasure Island in the sense that Depp is looking to get back his ship the Black Pearl. It was taken over by his former First Mate Barboso played by Geoffrey Rush and the whole crew Depp included is under a really bad curse. A couple of civilians, governor's daughter Keira Knightley and blacksmith Orlando Bloom are also part of the adventure.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean blends both the swashbuckling adventure film and the horror genre quite nicely. I can certainly Robert Newton in the part had this been 60-70 years ago.

This is one film as are the rest in the series to just kick back and enjoy.