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

Originally Written

Thursday, July 6, 2006

What do you get when you take one of the most popular rides at Disneyland and three successful and popular actors? You get a film that truly portrays Disney magic at its highest; Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Films surrounding the era of pirates is something Hollywood has been sorely lacking in the last few decades, combine that with the popularity of the attraction and the massive fan following of Johnny Depp, and the success of this film and the franchise is no surprise.

The Curse of the Black Pearl introduces the very eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, who uses his drunken mannerisms to his advantage in pulling the wool over people’s eyes. On the surface Jack may seem like “the worst Pirate you've ever seen”, but in fact Captain Jack proves on numerous occassions he might be one of the best. The film opens with the introduction of the governors' young daughter, Elizabeth Swan, and the rescuing of a young Will Turner from the aftermath of a pirate raid. Elizabeth discovers a golden pirate medallion around Will’s neck and quickly takes it, fearing if Will is discovered to be a pirate by the others he will surely be killed.

Eight years later Elizabeth still carries the medallion with her never revealing to Will, now a blacksmith in town, that she had taken it from him. Her fascination with pirates is still a curiosity as she continues to dream of that first meeting between her a Will, but she's soon to realize the great power and danger that the medallion holds. The pieces quickly begin to fall into place as Captain Sparrow arrives in town to procure himself one of the Royal Navy's vessels and ends up saving Elizabeth from drowning, he sees her medallion which sends forth a loud vibration upon contact with the water.

The vibration of the medallion in the water only leads to more trouble and even more pirates, as that night Captain Barbossa and his cursed crew of The Black Pearl come to retrieve what is rightfully theirs... the medallion, kidnapping Elizabeth in the process. The medallion is the last piece of gold needed to relieve the ill fated crew of their curse, which has lead them to sail the oceans as undead. The rest of the film follows Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow as they work together to take back what was wrongfully taken from them, for Will it was Elizabeth Swan and for Jack it was his ship, The Black Pearl. But the biggest challenge they both face is in trying to stop a band of cutthroat pirates that can’t be killed.

What can't be said about Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl? The cast is fantastic and Keira Knightley looks more beautiful than ever, the music is is upbeat and catchy with a chorus that is reminiscent of the battle sequence used in Gladiator. The story is well written and produced, more so than many other films of similar genre and caliber, the locations and sets were authentic looking, and the mixture of action, adventure and comedy makes this an overall must see. Having seen this film many times, I believe it warrants a 10 on it's near flawless execution and high re-watchability, it continues to entertain as much as the first day I saw it.

10/10