When I first heard that they were making a movie based on the beloved Disneyland Pirates ride I panicked. Nay. Freaked out. Being an Anaheim native I practically lived at Disneyland when I was young and I thought they could never make a movie based on a ride. When I saw the previews for this film I was sorely disappointed. The movie did not look good AT ALL. How could they?!! Then my mom, who hates going to see movies, saw it with a friend and came back saying that it was lots of fun. So I went to see it. And I loved it. This film has brought back seafaring movies. It is everything you could want in a movie of this type. For starters the script is funny. Really witty. Very clever. You could pretty much quote this film all day (I am guilty as charged). Seriously for you quote lovers, there are so many great quotes here to satisfy for quite a while. And the cast does wonders here. The characters might be a little weak (Will is such a square; he's so dull! And Elizabeth? What a snob. I think Will loves her only because she's pretty. She's very unlikable. And the bad pirates? Not very scary...), but the cast does well here and everyone does a good job, despite this. Well, Orlando Bloom needs a bit of help, but he's not bad. The supporting cast is great; I hate that monkey but he's a nice touch. Mr. Cotton and his parrot are wonderful. And then there's Johnny Depp.....I wonder if the writers dulled down everyone else just to amp Jack Sparrow up a bit. He is so multi-dimensional that he makes everyone else look out of place. Jack isn't very likable; he's dirty, a womanizer, a drunkard extreme, he crosses and double crosses and triple crosses everyone ten times over, but he's oddly amusing and we find ourselves liking him despite his obvious and about a hundred flaws. Mr. Depp is always a good actor. He's versitile; but here it's as if Johnny Depp doesn't exist, but Jack Sparrow does. He's so lost and absorbed in the role it's brilliant. Absolutely wicked. The character is well crafted, really well imagined. Bravo. The costuming here is excellent; I know, I never talk about this aspect of the film, because it's usually not that important, but here it deserves some praise. So here is my little shout out to Miss Penny Rose who shows her true talents here. Lauds. Along those minor lines, the cinematography is excellent. Everything is beautifully filmed and lush and perfect. Good work here too. And then there's the overall feel of the film. It's fun. Big fun. Really, really, fun. Pointless, but fun. Real Jerry Bruckheimer magic. Don't you want to learn to fence now? If there's one thing the film does a bit wrong, it makes pirating look like a good idea at times...uh, no, bad way to live your life. But it's supposed to be a fun adventure film with characters we like, and the bad pirates are really bad, so I guess it's ok. Speaking of fencing....ah, Commodore Norrington's sword. Did you see the sword? I don't care for weaponry, gadgets and such, fast, souped up cars and guns and things like that. But I have a good eye for quality and fine things in life, and oh, that sword was gorgeous. I want it. Gimme. I will become a pirate and steal it if I have to. That was an awesome sword. Another minor note, if you pay attention, especially if you are familiar with the ride, the film pays tribute to the ride itself at times. There are scenes which are actually taken from the ride-i.e. the dog in the jail, scattered throughout the film which certainly made me smile. Good way to honor that which you are paying tribute to. There are some faults with the film, great as it is. It's a little long, and the denoument ending threw me off at the end. It was fun watching Will rescue Jack, but really, did we need that? I mean, obviously we couldn't let him die, but he didn't have to get captured in the first place. There are some parts which are a bit awkward, like the end, but also parts with Elizabeth and Will. I don't know why; maybe it was just me. I didn't think the curse was anything special either; the story is simple and a little silly. Seriously. If the bad pirates wanted to get rid of their curse, big deal! Let them! Then you can kill them! Why the fuss? And really, why did they have to go raiding Port Royal to get the medallion? Couldn't they just have said please? I dunno. Maybe it was all part of Jack's plan, but I would have just let them have the darned thing and then killed them and had done. Jack wants Barbossa to leave him alone, so why not get the Pearl and then give away the medallion and kill the guy? Or kill him first and then get the boat. What's going on? Why couldn't Elizabeth or someone just given them the medallion and let it be? Why fuss? And I also didn't understand, if she had dropped it in the water, big deal! Go underwater and get it! It's parts like that which threw me off and still do, even after numerous watchings. I also didn't understand at first that Jack's crew had taken the Pearl and deserted him at the film's end. When Elizabeth said she was sorry I had no idea what was going on. There is some clearing up to do here, but at least most of the film is fine. I also didn't think that the skeleton pirates were all that scary; not scary at all really, mostly silly. But Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa is a great villain. He's mean and heartless, not necessarily vile and the best villain, but he's a good one, helped of course by Mr. Rush who does a fantastic job here. Great stuff. The music isn't much to hollar about either. Good themes but it's repetetive and simple. Memorable and enjoyable nonetheless. Taken as a whole this film is great fun, definitely a favorite. An instant classic. It's not perfect, but it's great big pointless silly fun, and I love it. I want to be a pirate. Eh, sort of. I want to be in this movie and be a pirate. It's this kind of film that puts your faith back in Hollywood. Your imagination can go wild. All it asks of you is your time. Which I am very willing to give. It makes me smile. And it also make me want to go sailing.