Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Rated PG13 Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley Rating: out of

The film opens with young Elizabeth Swann standing on the bow of her father's ship. A young man is found floating on some debris from a recently plundered and sunken ship. As the boy is brought onboard, Elizabeth discovers that he's wearing a golden pirate medallion. Fearing for his life -- since pirates are hung immediately -- she steals the medallion for herself.

Flash forward about ten years and Elizabeth (Knightley) has grown into a beautiful young woman. The boy, named Will Turner (Bloom), has become a skilled blacksmith in Port Royal. As the town prepares for ceremonies to celebrate the promotion of the local commodore, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) sails into port on a sinking ship, literally.

Seeking to take advantage of the town's preoccupation with the festivities, Sparrow aims to commandeer a ship and be off on the high seas once again. Instead, he finds himself rescuing Elizabeth from a fall into the sea and making his presence known to the local authorities. As Sparrow sits in the local jail, the legendary pirate ship The Black Pearl sails into port and begins to attack the town. The pirates take Elizabeth hostage and Will Turner and Sparrow become unlikely allies in the attempt to rescue her from their clutches. Of course, the medallion Elizabeth found on Will plays a role too.

Pirates of the Caribbean provides more bang for the buck than any summer movie in quite awhile. First and foremost, Johnny Depp's performance as the perpetually drunken Jack Sparrow is outstanding. His demeanor immediately tells the audience to settle in and enjoy the ride. He's having fun and it's infectious. Geoffrey Rush, as Barbossa, captain of the The Black Pearl, is equally full of gleeful hamminess. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley handle their roles with class, but simply do not provide as high-powered a screen presence as either Depp or Rush. Not that that's a bad thing, though.

The action and special effects are fantastic. The pirate ship battles and massive swordfights are detailed and exciting without ever getting into that CGI-fake-looking and totally unbelievable area that ruins so many otherwise good action/adventure films. Especially good are the sequences where the pirates move in and out of the moonlight that reveals their true identity.

If there's anything wrong with the film, it's that it could have used a bit of trimming to avoid the nearly two-and-a-half hour running time. The pacing never bogs down, but it does begin to seem like things are stretching out unnecessarily towards the end.

In a summer that's filled with a lot of high-tech junk and sequels galore, Pirates of the Caribbean provides the perfect alternative. It's witty, action-packed, humorous without being too silly and a lot of fun. It's everything that a summer blockbuster should be.

Trivia: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is the first PG13 Disney movie. (Source: The Internet Movie Database)