A ridiculous and fun ride that will be around for a long time

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2012)

As I go back and watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, I find the viewing experience just as much fun as the first time I saw the film in theaters. I also find the film more and more ridiculous.
When I first saw the film I was 13 years old, and I was just starting to realize that I wanted to be in the filmmaking business. Where films like American Beauty, Signs, and the films of Kevin Smith and Mel Brooks, really influenced me in the types of stories I wanted to tell, the original Pirates of the Caribbean really influenced the type of colorful characters I wanted to explore with my stories. In particular, and I'm sure to no surprise, Johnny Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow dazzled me (for the record, and for no particular reason, the other performance that significantly effected me in my life was Heath Ledger's as The Joker). I can remember imitating him for a long time, something that caused much frustration for my parents I'm sure. And also probably contributed to my unpopularity in high school. But I didn't care, I loved the film and the performance, and it once again helped solidify my certainty in wanting to write movies for a living (now that I think about it, this might have been the aspect that frustrated my parents the most.)
At some points the movie has a complicated plot and can also be quite long. By listening to the commentary of the film, the director even mentions at one point, that at that particular moment in the film (when Captain Sparrow and Elizabeth are stranded on the beach) the audience has all the information they need to end the story. Yet the film will continue for another 40 minutes. The film is flawed, as with ALL films I think. But with the eclectic characters, the overall plot of pirates and treasure, and the fact that it is just a fun ride, what's there not to love about this film?
When I look back now, I have the same feelings I would image a grown up viewer of films like E.T., Goonies, Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark might feel. When you go back and watch the movies from your own childhood you are aware of the dated effects and sometimes unbelievable sequences, but you also are reminded of the magical feelings that you felt upon first viewing those images. Now, I do not mean to compare E.T., Goonies, Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark to POTC, but the feelings for me are similar. Classics are in a way defined by the generation in which they were released. Huge amounts of people saw E.T., Goonies, Star Wars, and Raiders, and some have now deemed them classics of their time. And if you don't want to call POTC a classic of a more recent generation that's fine, for the record I'm not particularly calling it that. But I do think that this movie, whether we like it or not, will be around for a long time. And well deserved.