Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl" - An Adventure Worth Its Weight in Gold
by Homer Yen
(c) 2003

Although a morbid curse has befallen the captain and crew of the pirate ship, The Black Pearl, a larger curse has befallen pirate movies in general. The recent animated release, "Sinbad," opened to disappointing reviews and weak sales. Meanwhile, several years ago, the last big studio pirate film sank quicker than a cannonball in water. Does anybody remember "Cutthroat Island?" That punctuated the end of Geena Davis's film career back in 1995. Thus, with pirate movies as being somewhat unwelcome by moviegoers, will any of us want to venture out to see this latest pirate flick?

Surprisingly, this film is better than what most of us might expect. And most of its appeal can be credited to its two main stars. Geoffrey Rush, who plays the evil Barbosa, is an ambitious pirate who can put 'plundering professional' and 'mutiny organizer' on his resume. He gives us a thoroughly nutty but spirited performance. Moreover, you'll be enthralled by Johnny Depp's histrionics as Captain Jack Sparrow, a charismatic, unpredictable, and self-serving pirate who is plotting revenge against Barbosa. Depp brings forth the kind of unabashed alacrity that should earn him an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. The film looks and feels its best whenever Depp is on screen. He is glib in tongue, sly in wit, and raffish in looks. While his drunken swagger and his disarming charm may deceive those around him, he uses all of his skills to outfox, outrun, and outlast the others. He would make the perfect contestant on Survivor.

Despite these two heavyweight actors and great looking sets and period costumes, the film begins to wear out its welcome after the 100th minute as the film works way too hard to resolve all of the subplots that have been developed. Indeed, this film almost feels like two movies in one. There is the classic revenge plot, a love story, prisoners that need rescuing, a curse to be cured, battles at sea, and other elements that the script manages to barely juggle successfully. Yet, the progression of the multiple storylines is enjoyable in their own daffy ways.

In addition to the Sparrow v. Barbosa angle, there is the familiar damsel-in-distress angle as well. That damsel is Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), whose blood, it is thought, can free Barbosa and his crew from the curse. She is kidnapped, and it is up to her love interest, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) to rescue her. As a skilled weaponsmith, he knows a thing or two about fighting. The sword fights are fun to watch, and I'm thankful that they didn't include any of that hokey Hong Kong style of combat. As Turner and Sparrow are after the same man, they forge an unlikely alliance.

By the way, this curse is a nasty one, which has turned the unfortunate into undead creatures. You can only see them in their hideous form under the light of the moon. At other times, they look like the typical scalawag. In the summer game of special effects, there are some very cool sequences as these undead creatures fight. As they move from moonlight to shadow, their appearance also morphs back and forth from flesh to bone. It's something that you haven't seen yet. And that's a plus. Mix in a fairly well-developed (but somewhat long) story, beautiful settings and costumes; and this summer's most memorable character played by Depp, and this pirate film might find gold.

Grade: B

S:        1 out of 3
L:        0 out of 3
V:        2 out of 3

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X-RAMR-ID: 35262
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1174360
X-RT-TitleID: 1123873
X-RT-AuthorID: 1370
X-RT-RatingText: B