One pirates life for me...

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2006)

A movie based upon a Disney theme-park ride? The day I see that would be well, now; Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, takes the world of swashbuckling pirates, from a theme park ride as I have stated, wraps in some humour, and produces one of the best films to grace the silver screen.
Pirates of the Caribbean is about the rescue of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who was kidnapped by Barbosa, the captain of The Black Pearl. To her rescue is Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) who recruits the help of the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Together they set after Barbosa and his crew only to discover that they are undergoing a curse, which keeps them alive forever. From beginning to end, Pirates of the Caribbean is a roller-coaster ride of laughter. There is never a joke misplaced, and it sure makes one's views of the world of pirates, far more entertaining. Fighting sequences never detract from the comedy, as there are a couple instances of humour within battle. This humour is brought to the table, most of the time, by Depp's awesome portrayal of the ingenious, yet bizarre Jack Sparrow. All other actors bring immense life to their characters, and what you get is a film where acting is at its best.
However, all is not well: the length of the film is questionable, as it appears to drag on for far too long then it ought to. This is sadly due to some bad editing. There are one or two scenes which weren't required in the final cut, and almost every other scene is exposed for being a few seconds too long. While some perfect editing wouldn't cut the length of the film where one would notice, it would make for some faster pacing. Perhaps the editing division was given a little more freedom then expected, and is something which should be tightened up upon in the future.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is successful on many levels that other films are not. It's not going to be the best film of our time, but will surely go down as one of the most entertaining. Comedy is carefully placed amongst times of story development and times of battle. Many will easily be reciting their favourite parts over and over again. However, due to some lazy editing, the film seems too long, but it's not a problem to get yourself tied into a knot over.