Review of Cutthroat Island (1995) by Thomas P — 25 Nov 2017

A clear predecessor to the Pirates of the Caribbean, and a better than average pirate movie led by the versatile Geena Davis.

Oddly tho it was cool to pan back then when it hit theatres, but its a decent swashbuckling flick.

Lush and sumptuous cinematography, spectacular and thunderous slo-mo stunts, and a few corny chuckles should have carried it, but it didn't quite win its audience.

A script fix: find the treasure to SAVE her pirate father and his reputation, not just be a leftover from him.

And needed more fun with the characters - espec the overly bland villain here, and the wasted talents of Chris Masterson who later proved his hilarious comic chops on Malcolm in the Middle.

Pacing problems are deadly for an action flick too.

Davis has fun tho and does her best, but the script doesn't match up to her quick wit.

Matthew Modine nails it - he steals his scenes playing a perfectly pitched Disney hero, and you can tell he's having a blast.

Someone saw this, improved on it & made Pirates of the Caribbean, I'm convinced. Plenty of good was mined from here.

Worth a look on a lazy afternoon.

Argh..

3 shivered timbers out of 5.