All my praise doesn't mean there weren't awkward moments in the film. When I first saw Maturin played by Bettany. I thought, "Does Aubrey have an imaginary friend?" in reference to their work together in A Beautiful Mind, which in case you were wondering I thought was very average and did not deserve any awards, especially Best Adaptation since the film and the book have almost nothing in common except getting the names right. Let me move on before thoughts of that untalented hack Akiva Goldsman fill me with hate and bile.

We have a few scenes where the doctor is confidant/counselor of the captain, Kirk and McCoy leapt to mind, and most of their exchanges were interesting, intelligent arguments, although the scenes of them playing cello and violin didn't look right. It's hard to fake playing an instrument.

Another flawed scene is one discussion where Maturin whines about not being able to go to the Galapagos Islands. It went on far too long, considering that the Acheron was chasing them. This scene might speak to their friendship and mutual respect as an explanation to why Aubrey let the argument go on for as long as it did, but their mission of battling the French seemed much more important than collecting some new plant. If they had been caught, Maturin's journals would have been for naught, so I questioned Maturin's not understanding. He does get his wish later, but I think he would have forgone the trip if he knew his ticket to the island was a gun blast.

Also I was surprised that Aubrey's last ruse worked. Once the battle started I let it go, but I still questioned its plausibility. Thankfully, there was a moment where the French captain tricks Aubrey, making the French seem like competitive equals.

This is a smarter-than-usual adventure picture where the explosions are actually integral parts of the story. Pick up your anchor off the couch and go see this on the big screen. Waiting for cable or home video won't do the film justice.