Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

A great start, but for me the highlight of the trilogy is the second part. Orlando Bloom annoys the hell out of me in this film (in the same way he made Troy a bit unpleasant), but otherwise everything is OK. Captain Sparrow's arrival in port will hopefully go down in movie history! (04/06/2009)

The film that made Johnny Depp a real star, a film that showed that pirate movies are definitely not passé and that Disney still has something to offer to a wide audience. Entertaining, action-packed, imaginative with great characters and surprisingly it doesn't get boring even after several viewings. True, I already know the story very well, but it's still a ride. (12/04/2015)

Without Depp, the film would be almost hopeless, but Johnny’s Jack Sparrow is one of the best comic characters I've ever seen in a big film. Looking at Orlando Bloom, the question creeps into my mind whether his performance of "I am Legolas, but dressed as a buccaneer, don't confuse it, dear children" is meant seriously, or whether it is a deliberate exaggeration of the character of the incorrigible good guy Will Turner... Simple storyline, nice tricks, excellent humor; just a fun film the way it should be! (27/01/2004)

A great adventure ride, but I can’t say I liked it that much. Verbinski's direction is skilful and inventive in parts, but it all rests too heavily on the performance of Johnny Depp, whose deadpan and swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow may propel this unconventional pirate movie into the ranks of the most popular adventure films, but it's far from the best. What I missed was a more even and fluid plot, which is quite overstuffed in places and the strong makeup in the form of spectacular battles or great jokes can't completely mask it. 70% (06/08/2012)

Disney was obviously flaunting their budget. Despite a few flaws, I had fun watching the film and I wasn’t bored even on a rewatch. Johnny Depp was brilliant as a bisexual pirate; Geoffrey Rush was charmingly half-mad, and I also liked the performance of my favorite Jonathan Pryce. On a more negative note, Orlando Bloom kept looking like the winner of a staring contest and his Will Turner turned out to be the least likable character in the whole film. Keira Knightley’s had better roles and her acting has been better, too. The humor in some scenes felt a bit forced and intended for cheap laughs. Then I realized who Disney make their films for, I eased up on the criticism and the fourth star was saved, so a happy ending after all. (12/12/2016)