Undoubtedly entertaining and swashbuckling fantasy

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2009)

Blacksmith Will Turner (Bloom) seeks the help of a pirate (Depp) to rescue Elizabeth Swan (Knightly) from the most haunted ship in the seas, the Black Pearl.
Nominated for 5 Oscars, the first instalment of the Pirates trilogy is a fine swashbuckling adventure that depicts the legend of pirates in a way that is dark but also humorous and dramatic.
Johnny Depp (Ed Wood) is Oscar nominated for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, the pirate with a muddled agenda, and a humorous muddled personality. Depp depicts the Captain in a way that is outrageously funny, none more so than the first viewing as you will have never seen anything like it before. The improvisations by Depp including a fine last line are superb. Timing and sophisticated approach to the man without a plan is sweet acting at its very finest and though the sequels have diminished the protagonist (not to mention awful parodies in spoof films) he is undoubtedly different.
Keira Knightly (Pride and Prejudice) and Orlando Bloom (The Calcium Kid) are as poor as each other and are always in Depp's light. Geoffrey Rush (Shine) is almost as fine as Depp with a talented depiction of evil and wisdom.
Depp's performance aside, the best element of this 2003 picture is the story. Though for me it took a couple of watches to fully comprehend, the narrative revolves around a haunted ship known by the folks as The Black Pearl. This element of the film is a symbol of freedom and an element of mystery that gives the characters chance to look upon and hope for the best. But it's the use of Aztec gold that really gets your mind working. The puzzle of the curse that is affecting the crew is a weird and wonderful element of the narrative that raises as many questions that it doesn't answer. There are twists and turns, none more so than right at the end in a final showdown if you like.
The plot is mainly consistent but the political edge frequently undermines the tale of legends and pirates.
Based on a theme park ride, Pirates produced millions on release and wasn't long before two sequels were drawn up. These undermine this first with poor scripted and effect driven stories, but will never take the shine of this fantasy adventure, which is a mostly finely acted and frequently entertaining picture with a certain character that you won't forget in a hurry.