Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” is an example of a movie that came out at just the right time. The Disney Studio has a lot of experience with pirate stories such as "Treasure Island", "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Peter Pan". They even released "Muppet Treasure Island" and "Treasure Planet" (even though I saw the latter after "Pirates of the Caribbean"). When you consider these Disney films, it is obvious that the golden age of Hollywood was the golden age of the pirate movie. It was time for this romantic world to again be brought to the big screen in a more legitimate way. The trouble was to make something cliche into something appealing. Also, this movie had to be able to compete along side the other special effects movies of the time. All this was accomplished by putting it in the hands of Jerry Bruckheimer, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. For me personally however, this film came out at the wrong time as I was in the Philippines serving as a missionary. Upon my return home, I had not heard of the movie. In 2001, I did visit “The Pirates of the Caribbean” in Walt Disney World but that is it. Upon watching it for the first time with my family, I knew it was a good movie. After seeing it more, particularly on one occasion on a late night with friends in university, I knew that it was very special. The story has a traditional narrative structure, the characters are very fun because of the actors portraying them and the script has humor and wit. A lot of traditional pirate images and subjects are used while still possessing originality. This film and “Remember the Titans” are the two greatest live action Disney movies in the first decade of the 21st Century.

I tend to favor the characters in this instance more than the story because they make the story even more fun and enjoyable. In terms of the kind of characters that we are seeing, "Star Wars" comes to my mind. The biggest difference is that the Han Solo type character is the star of the film. Thanks to Johnny Depp, we now have a pirate character that surpasses the popularity of every fictional pirate except Captain Hook: Jack Sparrow (I’m sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow). He is well established cinematically as he romantically sails into Port Royal thanks to the music. Over a decade has passed since this film's release and the subsequent franchise of films have made this intro even more iconic. I think the filmmakers had a inkling that this character was something special and created a introductory scene that would do him justice. Despite his career choice, Jack has some decency in that he saves Elizabeth and this further establishes his character. The script helps set up Jack’s character as well such as the lines that Commodore Norrington has as he arrests Jack for the first time. He is famous but can still remain anonymous if he so chooses. His reputation however is poor when compared to some. Depp’s performance was different than originally intended for the character and he got criticism. I am glad the filmmakers trusted him in the end with his portrayal based on rock star Keith Richards. Depp’s reactions & silent acting are very funny and deserved to be noted. He should have won the Oscar for Best Actor but his competition that year was also good. A favorite line of his is when Jack insults the dog with the keys and it runs away upon hearing someone coming into the jail. Jack tries to stop the dog by saying: “I didn’t mean it”. Will Turner is different enough from Legolas so that you get a separate character but his wardrobe is mostly responsible for this. This is not to say that Orlando is a bad actor because I liked him in “Pirates”. Orlando’s impersonation of Jack Sparrow as he and Gibbs talk about Jack’s past is almost perfect and you laugh. When I saw this movie, I did not know that Keira Knightley was in “The Phantom Menace” so “Pirates” was my introduction to her as was the case with Geoffrey Rush and Zoe Saldana. Rush plays such a vile, straightforward villain and while this is the first ever film I saw Zoe Saldana in, I didn't recognize her until after seeing "The Terminal" and "Star Trek". The story of Cortez’s gold is well performed by Rush and as Jack represents the appealing side of pirates thanks to Depp, Barbossa represents the bad side of pirates thanks to Rush while still remaining fascinating himself.

The story has romance, action, excitement and fun. Many pirate movies have that but Elliott and Rossio, the screenwriters affectively introduced a supernatural spin and fantasy angle into the genre that makes “The Curse of the Black Pearl” very special. I love their other movies, which include “Aladdin”, “The Mask of Zorro”, “The Road to El Dorado”, “Shrek” and “National Treasure” among others. The script is fun but smart too as there are clever exchanges of dialogue between characters. The way that exposition is handled is very entertaining. There are also references to the ride as Disneyland including the song “A Pirate’s Life For Me”, images at Tortuga and the dog with the keys. The script establishes the Black Pearl pretty well. Jack first mentions it and the music cue makes it an important moment. Will and Jack’s fight is a great way for the characters to meet and the film needs a fun swordfight at the start. The fight starts off slow and accelerates while it moves around the blacksmith shop. I also love how the fight incorporates other items in the shop like hot iron and the wagon. At first, the script seems to hint at the importance of a lot of things without telling us the full story until later. The audience’s attention is therefore maintained as we are kept out of the loop. Jack recognizes something about Will and knows what the Medallion is. We understand that Jack’s pistol and belongings have importance to him but as time goes on, the intrigue becomes greater until Gibbs finally tells us. Barbossa is introduced as a good leader as he honors the code when we first meet him. His reveal is good too. I love how he objects to large words but then has the line: “I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request.” I like the classic moment as our heroes watch hidden as the bad guys converse unaware of Jack and Will. It is amusing how Jack is always able to stay Barbossa’s hand due to always having the upper hand. Jack always seems to say the right thing so that Barbossa will change his mind, at least for a moment for Jack to explain. We get another classic scene of the genre as the Black Pearl and the Interceptor face off side to side. The build up to this moment is well directed and scripted. I love how Jack walks right up to Barbossa in the middle of the pirates’ celebratory moment, as they are about to kill Will. It is a huge surprise for them and funny for us to watch the pirates slowly react in turn. I like how Will catches on to Jack’s plan as do we in that Jack has no intention of joining Barbossa. We also see that Jack steals a piece of the gold so the curse we will not broken until he wants it to be. What we fail to realize is that Jack now becomes cursed himself and this provides a great revelation later on when we think he has been slain. Jack repays his blood quite quickly so that we almost miss it until Will drops both coins in the chest. The chaos preceding the curse being broken is so much so that we have a true climatic moment as we realize that Jack did not waste his shot. I believe the romance in the film between Will & Elizabeth and I love the connection between Barbossa and the apple. That fruit becomes a part of his character. The best lines in the movie are “You’d best start believing in Ghost stories... You’re in one.” and “I’m Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?” This latter line becomes Jack’s catch phrase by the end.

There are other miscellaneous elements that make this movie great. The special effects and make-up are worth their Oscar nominations. It is just too bad that they had to compete with “The Return of the King”. Those skeleton pirates look pretty cool as well as the seamless transition from pirate to skeleton in moonlight. I love the design of the movie as well. Director Gore Verbinski (who would win an Oscar later in his career with Depp's help) achieved his desire of a historical fantasy look. There are so many classic pirate shots in the movie. My favorite is right after the establishing shot of the maroon island and we have a very brief shot of pirates forcing a person to walk the plank with the captain behind his men laughing, in this case Barbossa. The underwater shots show how crystal clear the water is in that part of the world.

It is very humerous to think that “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was expected to flop because of the pirate genre and Depp. Pirate movies became popular again thanks to the franchise and Depp got an Oscar nod as mentioned. Jack Sparrow has become more popular than Long John Silver from “Treasure Island” in my opinion. Other Oscar nominations garnished with this movie were for Best Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. This movie is one of my favorite fantasy films and the score by Klaus Badelt is one of my favorites too. This film has a great story and many great characters. The actors are well cast and it looks like everyone had a lot of fun. The success of this movie insured sequels but the end result was a let down unfortunately. They could not live up to the original film, which competed well with the other blockbusters of the time. The film deserves to be watched in Blu-ray so as to have the most fun watching it.

4.5 Stars out of 5