PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL by Gore Verbinski
October 21st, 2004 by Andre Soares
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 
Director: Gore Verbinski. Screenplay: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio; from an original screen story by Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert. Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
WHEN KEITH MET ZASU
Pirate films were a popular Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-1920s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-1950s, when the genre, by then relegated to mostly B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the last two decades have been disastrous (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn’t bode well for Disney’s "film adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. However, Neptune and assorted sea gods have been in a better mood lately. They have smiled — grinned would be a more appropriate word — on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, an enjoyable (if a little overlong) romp and one of the biggest box-office hits of 2003.
Several elements helped to transform a cliched, somewhat cutesy boy-rescues-girl storyline into — almost — film magic. Director Gore Verbinski, fresh off the commercially successful The Ring, demonstrates that he has the right touch for this sort of mindless entertainment. For even though the magic of Michael Curtiz and William Keighley’s The Adventures of Robin Hood is missing here, Pirates of the Caribbean offers lively swordfights, plunges into deep waters, bits of witty dialogue, awesome special effects, hammy acting, and even a girl-rescues-boy episode that should please the most jaded of filmgoers.
Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush, two performers that have a predisposition to overact, are let loose in this one. Surprisingly, they manage to walk on their respective histrionic tightropes, mugging and gesticulating all the way through without ever falling off. Since Depp and Rush are impersonating larger-than-life characters, their grandiose acting styles — without a hint of self-importance — are made to order. Depp’s delightfully amoral Jack Sparrow, the long-lost offspring of the Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards and limp-wristed comedienne ZaSu Pitts, is particularly notable. Never, not even as the aberrantly awful director Ed Wood has Depp created such a beautifully delineated specimen of homo bizarrus, flawless low-class British accent and all. To boot, Pirates presents the new Tyrone Power, Orlando Bloom, who is as agile as the old screen legend of The Black Swan — and who is a considerably better actor than the swashbuckling Power ever was.
Now, movies with in-depth character development can last longer than two hours. Empty-headed adventure films are meant to last considerably less. With a running time of almost 2 ½ hours, Pirates does overstay its welcome a bit. The film’s editors could have easily excised a good 20 minutes without any significant loss either in continuity or in entertainment. That said, when Depp starts lisping, Rush begins to spit venom, Bloom grabs his sword, and Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer’s rousing music plays at full throttle, all is forgiven. And how many films, whether on land or on water, boasts in its cast a little zombie monkey?
Note: According to news stories, Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow was inspired by both Keith Richards and Pepe LePew, the cat-stalking skunk of numerous old Warner Bros. cartoons.
Synopsis:
The young Elizabeth (Knightley), daughter of Governor Swann (Pryce) of Port Royal, is kidnapped by a band of pirates led by the fearsome Captain Barbossa (Rush). Will Turner (Bloom), a dashing swordsman who is madly in love with Elizabeth—even though she’s been promised to another (foppish) man — sets out to rescue her from the bowls of the Black Pearl, Captain Barbossa’s ship. Enter an eccentric, somewhat fey ship captain, Jack Sparrow (Depp), whose ship has just sank without a trace. Turns out that Captain Barbossa and Jack are old enemies — and that the evil Captain and his crew are suffering the effects of a horrific curse that has turned them into the undead.
Together, Will and Jack will fight the mean-spirited ghostly pirates in order to save their lady-in-distress from a fate much, much worse than plain, old-fashioned death.
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