Solid gold

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2003)

Rating: **** (out of *****)
Every year has a hidden treasure, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is 2003's.
When I saw the name of Jerry Bruckheimer attached to this a few months ago, I expected a no-brainer. Well, I am very happy to confirm that all the positive advance word you'll have heard regarding the film is true. Hulk and T3 are both solid but leave you with an empty feeling. Pirates doesn't. The writers of Shrek, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, have come up with a believable pirate story that is full of wit and one-liners, never taking itself seriously while not being obviously camp.
I guess you could call it your typical story of saving the damsel in distress from the pirates, except there's a major twist. Pirate captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is jailed for several crimes he committed on an island in the Caribbean governed by British governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce). Later, when a group of "evil" pirates led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) capture the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) tries to rescue her (well, he's had a crush on her since he was youngÂ…). But he realises he can't do this on his own, so he helps get Sparrow out of prison in exchange for the pirate's help. Both are soon to find out that Barbossa's motives for capturing Elizabeth are more complicated than expected.
Pirates differs from your average blockbuster in three ways: One, the script may not be a work of literature, but it never cheats the audience's intelligence. Two, patriotism and manipulation are not overdone. And three, the visuals are good, but they don't take centre stage.
If Pirates wasn't a little bit too long, it would actually be almost perfect. Still, there are many things about Pirates that I can't praise enough. One of these is the fine cast. Johnny Depp's slurred Cockney accent may cause some of the film's fine one-liners to be missed, but, with a performance that is almost as camp as it is cocky & energetic, his importance to the film cannot be underestimated. Nearly everything revolves around him, and he doesn't let the proceedings down.
He doesn't overshadow everyone else though. Geoffrey Rush is suitably menacing and chilling, while the youngsters don't disappoint either. Orlando Bloom has built on the strengths that we saw in the Lord of the Rings films and shows that he is more than capable of handling more singular roles. Keira Knightley's Elizabeth doesn't fall into the category of being too tough or too weak, instead a nice mixture of both. Knightley finds the perfect way of playing her character, and it doesn't hurt that she looks great as well. British comedy fans will spot Jack Davenport of Coupling and Mackenzie Crook of The Office (playing a pirate with a CG-"eye"; you'll see what I mean when you watch the film), neither of whom are out of place.
Pirates has many nice touches. Several scenes that you think will finish `by the book' suddenly become more compelling scenes or battles. Pirates keeps you hooked because something good or great always happens when you least expect it. Plus, even if stunt doubles were required for some of the swordfights, that doesn't prevent them from being entertaining (although I personally preferred the ship-to-ship battles). And, for those who care, there are some clever nods to the film's theme park inspiration.
This film has single-handedly restored my faith in the Hollywood blockbuster.