Paul Keaveny

DESPITE initial reservations about the new swashbuckler, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

However the film would be nothing without the scene-stealing Johnny Depp who plays the strangely camp but often hilarious pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow.

The action begins when a set of cursed ghost-pirates, on board The Black Pearl, kidnap the beautiful Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) who is in possession of a piece of Aztec gold.

Ghost captain, Barbossa, played by the excellent Geoffrey Rush, needs the gold and the blood of the blacksmith, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), to break the curse.

The pirates killed Turner's father when he refused to mutiny against the erstwhile captain of The Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow.

Sparrow and Turner steal a ship and dash after the pirates to rescue the gorgeous Elizabeth and get back Sparrow's former ship.

The pair are closely followed by Elizabeth's betrothed, Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport of This Life fame), and her father Governor Weatherby Swann (a bumbling Jonathon Pryce).

All the bunch needs to do is defeat the skeletal pirates by breaking the curse to make them mortal again.

Once done Sparrow can have his ship and his treasure back and the lowly blacksmith Will can convince Elizabeth that she should marry him and not the stuck-up Norrington.

Simple as that then? Well, no not really because the evil Barbossa, like any good baddy, refuses to give up and will sink to any depths (get it?) to get his way.

There are quite a few cheesy lines in this film and it is very much carried by the charm of Johnny Depp.

Not many people would think that gruff pirates would have a penchant for eye liner and have a voice not too dissimilar to a young Tommy Cooper.

But Depp's Sparrow manages to do both.

But considering this movie was made by the man who produced Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down we should just count ourselves lucky that the pirates weren't wiped out by an American air strike!

That aside it's a very enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

7/10 But, without Depp, it probably would have been just a five.