Pirate movies? Please. Those are soooo old. Nobody makes pirate movies anymore. Far too cliché.
Evidently, no one informed Disney of these commonly accepted filmmaking maxims, because Disney went ahead and made Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and dang it, they did a good job.
Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow, famed pirate, womanizer, and general troublemaker in the Caribbean seas. Also in evidence is Orlando Bloom, best known for his role as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movies. Bloom does an excellent job of becoming Will Turner, a blacksmith who is surprisingly good with a sword.
For a villain, we have the evil captain of the Black Pearl, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), with his crew of undead pirates. As the damsel-in-not-so-much-distress is Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley).
Despite the movie trailer’s emphasis on the undead pirates being very scary, Pirates is definitely an action/comedy film, rather than a horror movie. Jokes about Jack Sparrow’s woman problems are frequent, but nonetheless enjoyable.
Because Pirates Of The Caribbean came from the DisneyWorld ride of the same name, there are clear similarities, such as the shot of a group of pirates in a prison cell enticing a dog to bring them the keys.
The meat and bones of this movie come from Barbossa and his crew of evil pirates, who are suffering from the effects of an Aztec curse. Sparrow, Turner, and Swann team up to stay alive despite the best efforts of Barbossa’s crew and the British military presence.
There’s more to the plot: some Aztec gold, the undead, and a blood sacrifice, but such details are not essential to a movie like Pirates. Rather, a movie such as this does quite well on the strengths of the actors.
The chemistry between the characters is quite potent in Pirates. The relationship between Turner and Sparrow is the source of much of the movie’s comedy, with Turner playing the straight man to Sparrow’s quirky, adventurous nature.
Turner’s crush on Swann is another source of chemistry in Pirates. Turner does not know how to court a lady of Swann’s status, but he does not become a bumbling fool in her presence. Their childhood friendship keeps them close despite their positions in life.
On the opposite end of the movie spectrum, Disney managed to work in a fair share of special effects. Far from dominating the movie, they are there to make the audience say “Ooh!” and “Aah!” every now and then, and that is exactly what the special effects do. There are also quite a few fight sequences, but not too much blood, and nothing overly gratuitous.
Overall, the movie’s separate elements—the relationships, the special effects, and the fight sequences—pull together well enough, and intermix seamlessly. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is a rollicking good time.
