God bless Johnny Depp, for without him "Pirates of the Caribbean" would be just another empty big budget studio extravaganza - juvenile, bloated and over-reliant on stunt work and special effects. But thanks to Depp's brave and witty performance, the film rises above its own inherent weaknesses to become at least a halfway entertaining picture. He is the real treasure here.

"Inspired" - if one dares use so lofty a term - by the Disney theme park attraction of the same name, "Pirates" takes us to the never-never land of swashbuckling heroes and shiver-me-timbers foolishness. Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate who was left for dead on an island by his mutinous crew. Sparrow, captain of the legendary Black Pearl, a ship with the reputation for possessing evil, unearthly powers, has now returned from his exile and is ready to exact revenge on the mates who abandoned him. There's really no point in thrashing out the complicated but essentially simpleminded plot here. Suffice it to say that it involves a diabolical curse, a literal ghost ship with a literal skeleton crew, a feisty damsel-in-distress and enough repetitive swordplay and "avast me, hardy" dialogue to keep the action adventure crowd purring with contentment.

For all the care that has gone into the look of the film - the costumes, set design and computer-generated special effects - "Pirates of the Caribbean" would sink pretty quickly were it not for Depp giving his all to keep it afloat. His lisping, flamboyant, over-the-top approach to the character is exactly what this stale little tale needs to lift it above the ordinary. One has only to see Depp mincing around - where anyone else in the part would have been swaggering - to verify what we have known all along about Depp as an actor, which is that he is willing to take risks and explore different avenues when tackling a role, even one as lightweight and insubstantial as this one. He turns what could have been a mere walk-through, check-cashing part into an inspired comic turn. One can only imagine what a boring movie this would have been without him. For, indeed, the story itself is silly and the other characters (except for Geoffrey Rush's evil Captain Barbossa) stiff, dull and uninteresting. But Depp is the real deal, and all I can say is that I hope he received a large percentage of the film's phenomenal box office booty. Like any good pirate, he deserves it.