Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: July 9, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Bruckheimer -– always eager to egg on the public’s thirst for bigger, louder, stupider –- has done a scandalous amount of damage to contemporary cinema, but for once, his dubious talent for big-buck bombast is exploited for good rather than evil. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A first-rate sail into Adventureland. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Pirates offers something for everyone: Bloom and Depp for the ladies, big action and Knightley for the men, self-aware gags for the postmodern crowd, Depp and Rush for fans of top-rank scenery chewing. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A film that dares to be smart, reasonably complicated and scary while swashing its buckles. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This typically bloated production from Jerry Bruckheimer is good swashbuckling fun for the first few reels but eventually slows to a halt under the weight of too many doubloons. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's a good thing that Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp are on hand to jack up the acting department. Their characters, two world-class goofballs, keep us interested even during entirely pointless swordfights. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
At least the movie Pirates of the Caribbean is fun -- but only as long as you don't expect much. Take it from me: The ride is better. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
My main complaint -- there's too much emphasis on action -- will strike the film's young target audience as a see-worthy virtue rather than a fault. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
I love it, but much in the way I managed to love "The Phantom Menace" -- in spite of its bloat, swaggering self-importance and largely neutered characters. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
There may be nothing more fun for actors than experimental exaggeration, especially when filming on a Caribbean island. But there’s nothing that makes an audience feel less welcome than not being in on the joke. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRory L. Aronsky
An exciting time at the movies, where you don’t smell something burning and realize it’s your brain cells dying off. During the summer movie season, that’s rather hard to avoid. But this movie has avoided it and it’s time well spent. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The booty here is 100 percent fool's gold. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This noisy retread, a secondhand facsimile of a movie, is, except for the headache its boisterous sound level leaves you with, as forgettable as a bad day in the Disneyland parking lot. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A rollicking, jumbo-sized swashbuckler, awash in sword fights, cursed treasures, plank walkings and hurtling cannonballs. This stylish, rousing movie has been directed with refreshing levity and wit. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Letting any other actor run wild like this could have been a disaster, but Depp's peculiar buccaneer is an instant classic of actorly charisma. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The law of commerce worked this time around: One terrific thrill ride has begotten another. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Trimming half an hour from this bloated, 143-minute blockbuster would have highlighted the film's treasures, not the least of which is Johnny Depp's endearingly eccentric performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Fortunately, whenever the movie starts to sag, Depp flies to the rescue. It’s a truly piratical performance: with his flamboyantly fluttering fingers he steals every scene in the movie. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
An improbably entertaining, if overlong, adventure that brings new meaning to the term "summer camp." Doubloons! Ripped bodices! Unbuckled swash! Rum galore! Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Flawed though it may be, it's frequently an unaffected pleasure, in no small part because of Depp but also because of a raffish air that's a welcome respite from the heavy going of "The Matrix Reloaded," "The Hulk" and other behemoths. Read full review
63
PremiereScott Warren
Children of all ages: Brace yourselves for a helluva ride. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Oozes atmosphere. The humor keeps it from becoming too creepy, but there are still a few chills to be had. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Depp swans through this swashbuckler with a scene-stealing gusto unseen since Marlon Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty." He's comic dynamite, but this plodding, repetitive bore should walk the plank for timidly refusing to light his fuse. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
When Pirates of the Caribbean is good, it's certainly something to behold. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Eventually the concept buckles under the heavy blockbuster treatment, becoming a monotonous, repetitive spectacle of endless shipboard sword fights and pirate ghosts in the moonlight. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Verbinski puts a Jackie Chan flourish of high energy and gymnastic action on the swashbuckling stunts and swordplay and keeps this lark sailing along. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Pirates is OK, in patches even better. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Verbinski knows when to break out the stunning action sequences and when to let his characters dominate the film, and he handles both modes expertly. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The movie blows, me hearties, but don't you dare miss it...Why? Johnny Depp, that's why...This has gotta rank among the weirdest performances in the zany annals of the silver screen. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The large cast, costumed and made up as filthy scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The dazzling, high-flying silliness is quite an achievement. The movie is better than it deserves to be, given its origins: a ride at Disneyland and Disney World. Read full review
90
The New YorkerDavid Denby
All in all, Pirates of the Caribbean is the best spectacle of the summer: the absence of pomp is a relief, the warmth of the comedy a pleasure. [28 July 2003, p.94]
90
TimeRichard Corliss
This is an original work in an antique mood. The actors and authors all have fun with the genre without making fun of it. Rather, they revive it. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Director Gore Verbiniski delivers the best one can hope for: a cleverly nostalgic, high-tech copy of the real deal. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Finally, there's a big-budget popcorn movie that delivers what moviegoers hunger for: humor, action, thrills and charismatic characters. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is the summer blockbuster we've been waiting for. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The picture's constant forward movement and breezy sense of amusement about itself provide a certain mild sort of diversion. Read full review
70
Village VoiceEd Park
Convoluted but diverting. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalCollin Levey
Without Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush, who play two rival pirate captains, "Pirates" might have gone straight to video. The two are a pleasure to watch, rescuing an otherwise forgettable film.
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Pirates of the Caribbean moves easily from sunny 18th-century seafaring adventure to creepy zombie flick and back again. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Not enough to keep this celluloid ship from sinking under the weight of its own stupidity. Read full review
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