Grow a Sense of Humor!

Rating: Null/10 (31 December 2003)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl truly is a work of art.
With the notable exceptions that the Disney logo is slapped on beside the title and a ride bearing its name exists within their parks, this is far from the cliché kiddy flicks they have grown famous for. It's obvious that they've done little other than collect royalties and throw a killer premiere party for this film, leaving it in the very capable hands of Verbinski and Bruckheimer. So for those of you who swore off seeing it, claiming you'd rather die than deal with little mermaids and lion kings, get over yourselves and give it a try.
First off, this film brought together the very best of Hollywood, with a stacked cast both in front of, and behind, the camera. It is obvious from the beginning that more than one or two people threw their all into this production, for everything oozed precision.
The ships were incredible and the attention to detail was startling, especially on the Black Pearl. The cursed pirate vessel was everything one would imagine it to be. The weathered wood was dark as were the shredded sails (although they were a bit over done and sort of resembled Swiss cheese, but you can't win 'em all...) and everything was draped with cobwebs and immersed in fog; it was incredible.
The setting was utterly breathtaking, and the views of clear blue-green waters, white sand beaches, and tropical foliage were enough to make anyone in the audience damn near suicidal. The re-creation of the colonial ports was very well done and, once again, the attention to detail was insane!
But the storefronts and marketplaces would not have gone far without the great work of the many extras employed. Between soldiers, sailors, and townsfolk, the amount of people needed for filler was staggering, and yet they seemed to find the very best to provide a foundation for this story. The pirates were especially well done, reviving the idea that the supporting characters can, and will, steal the show. They were funny and disgusting cutthroats who each had their own personalities and quirks, making it seem like there were eighty main characters instead of four.
Speaking of the main characters, the casting done for these roles was simply masterful. While the character of Will Turner is a bit melodramatic and annoying, Orlando Boom's good looks and some really smart one-liners make him loveable in the end. Kiera Knightly's character wasn't all that special or different, but she shined in her portrayal of the beautiful rich girl who secretly longs for adventure and the not so rich boy, so snaps to her. Geoffrey Rush was Captain Barbossa, and it is next to impossible to imagine him as anything else. His gait, his costumes, his speech, it only added to his mystique, making it completely impossible to outright loathe his character even though you know you should.
But the man of the hour is without a doubt Johnny Depp. Known for taking the most bizarre and least publicized roles, he went from the pasty introverted Edward Scissorhands characters to a very tan, very loud, and very drunk pirate by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow, solidifying his status as one of the foremost acting talents of his day. With the aid of incredible costuming and extremely witty writing, Depp becomes the man, swaggering and slurring, not once falling out of character. If he doesn't win the Oscar for this performance, the Academy is most definitely on all of the drugs in Raoul Duke's damned briefcase.
Basically, this film is a gem, and while it doesn't solve world hunger or confuse the viewer into a coma, it does take the audience away from their humdrum lives and into a simpler time where adventure was a way of life, not office work in a cubicle. Many people have griped about this film, and to them I say this: There simply isn't a need to overanalyze it, so just sit back and enjoy, and grow a sense of humor, for Pete's sake!