Director: Gore Verbinski
Stars: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook, Damian O'Hare, Giles New, Angus Barnett, David Bailie
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 143 minutes

With a summer of would-be blockbusters including The Hulk, and the latest X-Men, Matrix, and Terminator offerings, Pirates Of The Caribbean comes along as a bit of a black horse.

Based (very loosely) on the Disney theme park ride, Pirates Of The Caribbean is a truly rip-roaring affair, with plenty of buckles to be swashed, a distressed damsel, and some of the scurviest knaves ever to sail the Seven Seas.

The story revolves around a chest full of Aztec gold and a curse that has been placed upon it. The curse turns all that have taken gold from the chest to live a half-life, as they turn into rotting skeletons by the light of the moon. The pirates are on a quest to return the last of the gold pieces to the chest in order to lift the curse that has befallen them.

This last piece was given to blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and was taken from him by Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) as she thought that he would be thought of as a pirate, a crime punishable by death.

After Elizabeth is taken captive by the pirates, led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Will pursues in order to rescue the woman that he loves. However, being a blacksmith, he knows little of the ways of the sea and requires assistance to rescue the maiden. In order to do so, Will strikes a deal with Captain Jack Sparrow (a scene-stealing Johnny Depp), the former captain of the legendary pirate ship, The Black Pearl.

With such strong leads, including wonderful performances from both Depp and Rush, and good support from the likes of Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, and Mackenzie Crook (from TV’s The Office), and superb direction from Gore Verbinski the film has a lot going for it. The story is easy to follow, the special effects are brilliant (particularly the skeletons that appear in the moonlight) and there are lots of top-notch action sequences in there too.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is everything that a summer blockbuster should be. See it now.