A Pirates Tale

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2003)

The Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl may be a long winded title but the movie is no such thing. It was a good revision of an old story. Jack Sparrow ( Johnny Depp ) first seems to be a terrible pirate but as the movie progresses the character proves very clever. He maneuvers himself out of several hairy situations and assists Will Turner ( Orlando Bloom ) in rescuing Miss Elizabeth Swann ( Keira Knightly ) from the evil Captain Barbossa ( Geoffrey Rush. )
The storyline is nothing extraordinary. Will Turner loves Miss Swan but cannot express it because of her status. When she is captured by Barbossa he pursues them in spite of the immanent danger. It is loaded with adventure, lots of sword fighting, explosions, and savvy pirate lingo.
What set the movie apart are the interesting special effects. When the cursed crew of the Black Pearl encounters moonlight they appear as skeletons. One scene which stands out is when they are walking under the sea as an army of skeletons. It was a clever approach by director Gore Verbinski.
There is a great deal of humor in the movie. Barbossa has a very sinister sense of humor. Though he is supposed to be the bad guy, it's hard to hate him. Jack Sparrow seems half-baked throughout the entire movie. It makes his character more comical and thus easier to like. It's the kind of comedy befitting the movie. If it had been portrayed as a horror film it would have been a complete failure. The comical mood added to the adventure makes it an excellent watch.
Another good feature of the film is that Miss Swann is a take action kind of girl. She's not the stereotypical damsel in distress. Of course, she must not be too masculine and there are times when she's screaming her head off.
Will Turner is a character who attempts to remain in the good graces of society. He first refuses to accept the fact that his father was a pirate. Through the course of the film he becomes more pirate in character. Him coming to grips with his pirate blood is a major aspect of the movie. It is his blood which will lift the curse off of the Black Pearl.
The end of the movie is nothing out of the ordinary. The bad guy dies, good prevails, the hero gets the babe, and the witty underdog gets away. Still, the movie maintains elements of excitement and its comedy masks the familiarity of its storyline. Though it is predictable, it's a good movie to see.