Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2004, DVD)

I confess, despite the ridicule of my family and friends and the scorn of my own intellectualism, I am an Orlando Bloom shipper at heart. But I went to see this movie mostly because of the terrific action and adventure it promised, and I certainly got that and much more! There has been a shortage of great, classic adventure movies lately, and Pirates of the Caribbean definitely falls in this category. It was far better than even I had anticipated, and while not everyone may enjoy it as enthusiastically as I did, I can safely promise that no one will be bored.

The title for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl comes up almost immediately as the movie starts, then fades to a scene from Elizabeth Swann s childhood, on ship with her governor father where they find a wreck of a ship and a boy named Will Turner half-dead in the water. He carries on him a gold medallion with a skull and crossbones on it which can only mean one thing. Nearly a decade later, Elizabeth is still haunted by the medallion she took from him and by Will himself, who is now a hard-worked blacksmith. Will happens to fall in with the infamous (Captain) Jack Sparrow, a sun-dazed ex-pirate trying to keep his throat intact, and their rivalry becomes an uneasy alliance when Elizabeth is captured by the pirate ship The Black Pearl. But what Will doesn t know is that her kidnappers have been cursed by the gold of Cortez that they stole long ago, and that they will remain the Undead, showing their true forms only by moonlight, until each gold piece has been returned and a blood sacrifice made

While that s the basic plot, there are a hundred little catches and subplots that add intrigue and complexity to the story, and make for a very exciting ride along the way. Nearly everything about this movie is tight yet well-developed, from the scripting to the pacing and plot to the acting, and quite literally keeps you perched on the edge of your seat wondering how the heck they re going to get out of this one. I enjoyed every minute of it the wonderfully choreographed swordfights, the subtle romance, the humor and inside jokes, and the gorgeous backdrops and cinematography. No need to keep your expectations low for this movie just because it s based on a theme-park ride; it stands firmly on its own two feet and delivers a LOT of bang for the buck.

But what I really loved was the depth and soul of the movie. It s clear that the filmmakers put a great deal of care and effort into Pirates of the Caribbean, a surprising element to find in a summer action flick, and I think that s why this movie will transcend that genre and find its place among the classics. Woven into the story are some rather profound facets nothing too deep, mind you, but layered developments in the plot that all build up to a heart-pounding climax and a satisfying conclusion (ok, you knew it would be a happy ending, right? This is Disney after all!). The delicate threads of romance (and a very hot Orlando Bloom) are well-balanced with enough action, intrigue, and suspense to keep a majority of viewers happy. And because of the tight pacing and magnificently engaging story, the two-and-a-half hour span of the movie breezes by in an instant, leaving the viewers with no time at all to be bored.

Not that it s all non-stop action and piracy. The crew of characters grab a number of opportune moments to carouse, poke fun, and figuratively swab the decks with each other, such as the rip-roaring scene where Jack and Elizabeth are marooned on an island with only each other and a cellar of rum. (The source of my title funniest line in the movie in context!!) As one reviewer put it, the movie is highly contagious fun, and the rollicking adventure is just as entertaining as the ride that inspired it, while having (obviously) more substance and depth. (Oh, and be sure not to skip out as soon as the credits start to roll, which is what I did; I found out later there s a special extra at the end of the credits that is quite amusing.)

If you ve only seen the trailers of Pirates of the Caribbean, then you haven t seen Johnny Depp s charm at its fullest as Jack Sparrow! His character is absolutely delicious as he swaggers like a drunken sailor and plays up his swanky appearance to the ultimate. Who cares if his accent is believable or not it s perfect and hilarious! Although I know some are going to be rolling their eyes, I do think that Orlando Bloom put up quite a good performance as the passionate, determined Will who ll stop at nothing, even behavior verging on piracy, to rescue Elizabeth. I was rather leery at first of Keira Knightley in the role of Elizabeth, whom I had heard was a rather stereotypical (and anachronistic) kick-butt heroine, but she has a lot of spunk and drive without being unbelievably capable or too modern. (And she s way better than her look-alike Natalie Portman would have been in the role! In fact, Knightley *DID* play Portman s look-alike handmaiden in Star Wars: Episode I.) Geoffrey Rush delivers a scrumptious evil-to-the-core yet strangely gentleman-like Barbossa, playing up the role with delight. The cast altogether was excellent, but there s no denying that Depp is truly the highlight of the film.

There were a few continuity problems in the story, most of which would involve spoilers if I was to explain them to you. Anyhow, most of them probably wouldn t occur to you unless you like to look for those sorts of things, like how the Black Pearl s sails are ripped and decaying yet still propel them on the wind, or how there s a full moon every night. (Oops just spoiled it I know now you ll all be thinking about that when you go see it oh well *evil grin*.) And the more important glitches do resolve themselves in the story, but I can t tell you (*grins again*), so if you re bugged by something, drop me a jingle and I ll try to puzzle through it.

The effects, on the other hand, are uniformly terrific; nothing buggy about the eye-popping transformations of the undead pirates in the moonlight, as has already been seen in the trailer, but which is carried out to glorious effect in Pirates of the Caribbean. The cinematography is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, sweeping, gorgeous, and professional, with crisp backdrops and cleverly cut battle scenes that convey the intensity but not the gore of the fray. (It's the kind of movie that will keep all the Ringers like myself at bay until Return of the King comes out.) And the score, composed by multiple collaboraters, soars and tumbles with the scenes, accompanying the story beautifully and very adventurously.

Age appropriateness will depend on the sophistication and comfort level of the individual child, but if you have any doubts, just play the trailer (which is about as bad as the movie gets, barring some tame violence), and judge for yourself the suitability of the movie for your child. For myself, I thought the producers did a great job of making the pirates scary but not terrifying, but then as a little kid I might have been quite freaked out by them. I d say 10 and up is a good reference, since there is no sex or nudity, little blood or gore, and the violence is convincing but not graphic. (The blood sacrifice doesn t necessarily mean death, just cutting the hand.) I suppose the conservative merit of the rating is not surprising for Disney, given this is their first PG-13, and overall this is a wonderfully clean film, safe for preteens on up.


Bottom line

Even if you hate pirate movies, have been disappointed by them before, hate period movies and romances (like my brother-in-law), or harbor any other pre-conceived notions you might have going into this film, I urge you to give it a try. I'll be seeing it at least once more in theaters, and will be adding it to my video collection as soon as possible. This is one 2 -hour film that won t leave you feeling like you ve wasted your time, but rather that you want to see it again! Take your whole crew (leave the tots at home) and go see it it will definitely shiver your timbers!