I'll be first!

I watched this primarily for Robert Stephens - dad of Toby Stephens, currently Captain Flint in Black Sails. I knew about Robert Stephens from 'Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' before I realised that Toby was his son. I like him as an actor so I thought it would be cool to see him as Henry Morgan, and also that it was a neat coincidence that he was a pirate in a movie and his son is a pirate in a series.

Well, what a shame that his screen time is about 15 min tops. If the film had centered somewhat around him (or rather had the action centered around him), this might have been a much better film. His performance is a little OTT but he brings some spark and vitality to the picture.

What really brings this film down for me is what must be the most grating performance by a leading lady in a film - Leticia Roman as Meg. I mean, maybe I'm not the target audience for this film being female, and perhaps some teenage boys liked her in the day, but my word I found her annoying as heck. And an unlikeable character as well.

(There's a odd 'Poldark/Demelza' feel to the relation between Bart (who names their leading man 'Bart'?) and Meg, but without any of the chemistry and charm.)

Spoiler:
One thing that was odd - why does the Captain have silks and dresses in his cabin? All I could think about was Robert DeNiro's pirate in Stardust.

One question:
Did ships, pirate or not, keep ladies dresses for the sake of disguise. I thought of PoTC in the one scene as the ship tries to deceive one of Henry Morgan's fleet.