That rare bird, a decent modern pirate movie.

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2004)

Pirate movies have fallen on hard times as of late. There hasn't been a decent one since the mid-fifties. Attempts to revive the genre have generated a series of expensive flops like Cutthroat Island and Roman Polanski's Pirates. Despite the dismal track every ten years or so there is yet another attempt to get it right. With the latest, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl persistence is rewarded. Though not on a level with Captain Blood or The Crimson Pirate, Curse is still is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that successfully combines modern action with a traditional sea saga.
The Black Pearl is a ship with a cursed crew doomed to an undead existence until they return all the Aztec gold they unwisely pilfered. After years of ghostly plundering they manage to gather all save for the one piece currently in the possession of the beautiful Elizabeth, the Royal Governor's daughter. Can her true love, the pirate hating blacksmith Will, keep her safe from the crew's boney clutches? Or does she need the help of the completely loony Captain Jack Sparrow?
Sparrow is a hilarious addition to the Hollywood Pirate tradition. He is a seadog sure to strike terror into the hearts of the fiercest scallywag though not because of his dazzling swordplay. Johnny Depp plays Sparrow as if he has downed one too many grogs on the way to the gay pride parade. He flounces, weaves and mumbles his way about the Caribbean absolutely sure that he is the very model of a modern pirate captain. That his adversaries aren't as sure of his seafaring abilities as he is doesn't register in his hazy worldview. Depp's Belle of the Poop Deck routine works fabulously. He gives the movie a pixilated charm but if it's an old fashioned shiver-me-timbers pirate you want there is Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. Rush `arrhs' it up for all he's worth and even makes you feel a little sorry for the murderous old sea dog.
As Depp and Rush keep the glorious tradition of ham acting alive others in the cast are left struggling to keep up. While Orlando Bloom seems stogy as Will the insanely beautiful Keira Knightley is in no danger of being overshadowed. Her Elizabeth comes across as the most competent character in the movie. You get the feeling she could have sorted the plot out quicker without the blundering help of Sparrow and Will. The rest of the cast is filled with a great assortment of character actors who fill out their colorful parts nicely. In fact, it's safe to say it's the performers who make this movie despite the extensive special effects on display.
Curse suffers from the usual modern summer blockbuster problems what with frenzied editing, sloppy plotting and a leaden approach to comic timing. Complicating matters is an out of control sound design. Background creaks, booms and clangs are blasted out of proportion and every footfall thumps like a brontosaurus tread. All this drowns out the actors so potentially funny lines are lost. Art direction is also problematic. For example, the skeletal crew is so stuffed with detail that between the quick cuts and frenzied pace they come across as a perambulating blob. A further drawback is the cinematography. For some reason the normally sunny Caribbean looks as bleak and cold as the North Atlantic. While all this is annoying it shouldn't stop you from seeing Curse. It's a charming movie filled with the sort of enjoyably preposterous performances you rarely see nowadays.