A glorious return to a lost genre

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2003)

Some people may be unfortunate to remember the 1995 Geena Davis/Renny Harlin disaster "Cutthroat Island," a bloated and stale attempt to revive an old sub-genre, that of the swashbuckling adventure film. Long dormant after Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks hung up their tights and rapiers, the genre was due for a comeback. Now, much like "Moulin Rouge!" and "Chicago" revitalized the sleeping form of the musical, pirate films have been rediscovered in the form of "Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl."
At a British colony in the Caribbean, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), daughter to the governor, is being wooed by two men: the proper and stoic naval officer Norrington (Jack Davenport) and the unassuming yet sincere swordsmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). But courtship has to wait when the infamous pirate ship the Black Pearl, headed by the vile Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), invades the colony and kidnaps Elizabeth. Will's only hope to save her is to free the Black Pearl's former captain, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), a dangerously unstable and hardly trustworthy fellow. Things are further complicated when it turns out that the pirates have all been cursed for stealing Aztec gold and that moonlight reveals their true state: that of rotting corpses.
This film is wonderfully entertaining. All of the performers give fantastic performances, from Knightley's strong-willed and curious Elizabeth to Bloom's resourceful and determined Will. Plus, it's great to see Bloom without elf ears. The best performance by far is Johnny Depp, giving one of his wildest and strongest performances of his career. His Captain Jack is half-way between Keith Richards and insanity (which may not be too far), an amalgamation of swishes, slurred words, and blustery bravado. Depp just doesn't steal every scene he's in: he robs it at sword point.
The director has a hand for sweeping adventure, as well. Gore Verbinski is best known for directing the supremely creepy "The Ring," and some of the moody hand that guided that film is present here, as well. But Verbinski knows how to handle the genre and his actors very well, everything coming together in a strong wind that sweeps the audience along with it. The movie is full of characters but never overcrowded. It is swarming with details, but it is never tedious. The script, like the film, hearkens back to the witty repartee of early swashbuckler films, which may sound laughable on paper but makes perfect sense coming out of the characters.
The most striking thing about the film is the CGI involved in rendering the skeletal pirates. While there are several scenes of fully-skeletal pirates, the most impressive use of this effect is during a fight in a cave, where the pirates dart in and out of moon light with only part of their bodies transformed. After the offense to cinema that was "Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones" and after seeing the fantastic effects WETA pulled off for "The Two Towers", I had lost faith in Industrial Light & Magic's ability to inspire wonder. They have outdone themselves on this picture.
Despite the entertainment value of the film, there are a few minor drawbacks. At almost two-and-a-half hours, the film is slightly long and could easily have been trimmed down by 30 minutes. Similarly, several minor characters, such as Zoe Saldana's black female pirate Anamaria, are intriguing and sadly underused. These are minor complaints, however, and they do not detract much from the overall enjoyment of the film.
"Pirates of the Caribbean" is sure to inspire other directors to helm their own voyages into swashbuckling adventure. Here's hoping that they all turn out to be as thrilling and enjoyable as this one. 9 out of 10.