PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) / *** 1/2
Directed by Gore Verbinski. Screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio,
from a story by Elliott, Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert. Starring
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley. Running time: 143 minutes.
Rated PG for frightening scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on July 17th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: A British settlement in the Caribbean is attacked by pirates
from the legendary Black Pearl, led by the fearsome Captain Barbossa
(Geoffrey Rush). They make off with Elizabeth Swann (Knightley), who owns
a strange medallion which the pirates believe is the key to unlocking
an ancient curse which has transformed them into undead. Young blacksmith
Will Turner (Bloom) vows to rescue Elizabeth and forges an unlikely
alliance with the outlandish Jack Sparrow (Depp), once the captain of the
Black Pearl himself.
Review: Although the pirate genre has long since fallen out of favour,
"Pirates Of The Caribbean" seems destined to turn those fortunes around.
This is perhaps a bit surprising, because in many ways it hews closely to
the time-honoured buccaneer formula. As the straight-arrow good guy, Bloom
is pitch-perfect, evoking the spirit of Errol Flynn. Knightley deviates
from tradition a little more substantially with her modern, feisty
performance, but in the end is still very much the archetypal "Governor's
daughter". And the undead status of the eponymous buccaneers is really
just an excuse for spooky special effects -- these are still classic evil
pirates, led with great gusto by Rush. Where the movie shifts gears is in
the introduction of Depp's character, and it's a brilliant move: Jack
Sparrow is a singularly unique creation. Part "Rocky Horror" refugee, part
antediluvian Han Solo, he swaggers through the film like a benevolent
drunkard. He's funny and heroic (well, antiheroic at least) but best of
all he's unpredictable, making "Pirates" less of a cookie cutter runaround
than most blockbusters. Granted, the script does indulge in
capture-escape-capture theatrics a little too much, and consequently it
feels a bit padded out. But for the most part, "Pirates Of The Caribbean"
may well be the most fun you'll have at a movie theatre this summer.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
Archived at The Popcorn Gallery,
http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
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X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4
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