Pirates of the Caribbean stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate with no ship and no crew. Sparrow steals a British navy ship as he helps Will Turner (Bloom) rescue his love Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) from Captain Barbossa (Rush). Elizabeth has been kidnapped by Barbossa and his cursed crew as they believe she holds the key to the lifting of the curse - by moonlight the crew of the Black Pearl are revealed to be walking, talking, not quite dead skeletons.

Geoffrey Rush is great as the villain, but it is Johnny Depp who is the true star of the film as he gives a very camp performance as Jack Sparrow. Orlando Bloom has gone for the Errol Flynn look and serves as good eye candy, but I'm afraid he cannot compete with Mr. Depp.

The idea of a film being based on a Disneyland theme park ride sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but Pirates manages to capture all the essence of pirate movies of old. This movie has everything - action, adventure, romance, suspense, humour, and fun. There is swordfighting, chivalry, piracy (of course) and mystery.