Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

I realized that I never bothered to write a review of the original Pirates. Figured I'd toss one up.

The Good:
There was actually a lot about this film that was very good - which surprised me I will admit.

Johnny Depp was amazing. If you are a Depp fan, and if not I say shame on you, then this is a must see. He is fantastic.

Geoffrey Rush, also fantastic.

The effects were actually stunning at times, which is a lot for someone like me who isn't big on effects most of the time.

The Bad:
Disney Movie.

Disney Movie based on a theme park ride.

Over All:
This movie was a lot of fun. Being that as above noted it was based on a theme park ride in Disney World, that came as a huge surprise with me. I was actually invited to see this in the theatre several times and always passed. I finally saw it on DVD and was blown away. I went into it expecting nothing and was surprised to have a lot of fun instead. I am rarely surprised when I expect nothing from a film so this one gets bonus points for actually proving me wrong - for the most part.

Deep Sea: IMAX

The Good:
I'm a sucker for documentaries - particularly nature documentaries. This one was very good.

You got to see a lot of really neat things that most people take for granted as the air breathing lot of us don't spend a lot of time under the deep sea.

Beautiful - just visually stunning at times.

The Bad:
As much as I like both Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet - I found the dueling narrators to be a bit distracting and it often took away from the focus of the film which was the complexity of undersea life. Choosing one and sticking with them would have been a better call as there was really no point in having two.

I think I lost a lot of the stun factor watching this at home on DVD rather than in and IMAX theatre as it was intended.

All in all:
Very, very good. It's no Planet Earth - but it's damn good.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

The Good:
I really enjoy Johnny Depp as this character. Really - it's perfect for him. He's absolutely brilliant at it.

The movie is pretty and enjoyable to watch.

Some of the effects are pretty neat - and I very much enjoy the ensemble "villain" cast.

The Bad:
Disney.

I've never really been a fan of Keira Knightly outside of Bend it Like Beckham nor Orlando Bloom outside of the Rings trilogy. They are pretty bland, and Knightly tries way to hard to be the "badass" chick of the film.

Over All:
If you liked the first one or liked Depp in the first one it's a fun ride. If you liked neither of those things, not for you.