Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (9 July 2003)
directed by Gore Verbinski
starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook, David Bailie, Michael Berry Jr., David Schofield, Dylan Smith, Lauren Maher, Martin Klebba, Paula J. Newman, Derek O'Connor
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MPAA rating: Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, First Mate Productions Script: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio Music: Klaus Badelt Running time: 143 minutes Tags: Action; Adventure; Comedy; curses; Fantasy; oceans; pirates; romance; rum; ships; undead Tactical strength: [8/10]
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for action/adventure violence
After watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, I decided to watch the first movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl, again to see just why I felt the second movie didn't live up to the quality developed in the first film.
In The Curse of the Black Pears, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) wants to retake command of his ship The Black Pearl. His crew mutinied, and left Jack for dead on a small island with a single pistol. Jack has saved the shot loaded in that pistol for revenge on Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who lead the mutiny against Jack. After removing Jack, Barbossa and the Black Pearl crew picked up a chest of cursed Aztec gold. The curse turns the crew into undead creatures that cannot die, but also cannot experience pleasure or pain. (Although at several points in the film, the cursed crew does feel hot and cold.) To remove the curse, the crew must collect all the gold coins, return them to the original hiding location, and then spill the blood of a living (non-undead) relative of the crew into the gold.
And thus, we have our link to the other characters in the story. Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) has one of the gold coins. Elizabeth lives on Port Royale, where her father (Jonathan Pryce) rules as colonial governor. Jack has come to Port Royale to commandeer a ship in which to pursue the Black Pearl, and the local blacksmith's apprentice, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), loves Elizabeth, makes fancy swords, and unknowingly has the blood the pirates need to remove the curse. Elizabeth gets captured by Barbossa, and Will enlists Jack's help to rescue her. Nearly non-stop action then ensues.
I would bet that when I first heard about Pirates of the Caribbean, I rolled my eyes. I couldn't imagine how one could make a movie out of a theme park ride. Yet, Gore Verbinski has managed to make a film with excellent action and endearing characters. The movie has a complex plot, interrelated characters, and lots of action. Johnny Depp steals the show as Captain Jack, and the script gives him some very funny lines. The effects on the undead crew as they transition between human and skeletal forms, generally left me amazed. Although, some of the skeleton animation looks jerky and lacks the fluid motion of a human form in motion. At some points when the skeletons climb ropes, the feet bones don't actually touch the rope.
Since we have never before seen these characters, Curse of the Black Pearl must provide character development. We get complex pictures of Jack, Elizabeth, and Will, and some aspects of Barbossa, Norrington (Jack Davenport), and Governor Swann. When Dead Man's Chest takes over, it leaves out much of the character development, since we already have established the character traits in the first film. But the character development and character interaction makes Curse a fun movie. Without this development, Dead Man's Chest falls flat.
Usually you laugh hardest the first time you hear a joke, and in the same way, you appreciate the funny parts of Curse more when you first see them. The pirate Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) has a fake eye made of wood. When you first see him chasing the eye rolling around on the deck of the Pearl, you laugh out loud. When you see it again in Curse, you chuckle. When you see this several times in Dead Man's Chest, . . . well, you shrug and think, "We've seen that one before." This happens over and over with Dead Man's Chest repeating the jokes from Curse at a reduced effect. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl provides a fresh, funny adventure story that you can watch over and over.
