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Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.
Johnny Depp: Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the Carribean - The curse of the Black Pearl is one of the hits and most enjoyable thing to come out of a Disney collaboration for years. A return to form without a doubt.
The cast in Pirates was simply divine and they generously let rip with all the fun, becoming infectious for us, the audience.
Although they did not let this sacrifice one shred of dedication to their respective performances.
Jack Davenport, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and outrageously talented Johnny Depp just swept us away.
Starlet Kiera Knightley, not bad given her young age, dazzles and shines in all her glory during the film.
Davenport, Rush and Depp all delivered reasonably complex characters despite the superficial story line. Norrington is ambitious but also has a strong compassionate streak. Barbossa's integrity is his evilness, yet we can also see his weaknesses and humanity. Sparrow is like that friend we all have who is a bad boy but would do anything for you in the end, along with the many other traits Depp built into this character. Depp, by far, is the one who jumped off the screen and grabbed you and pulled you into the show. It's hard to say more, the guy is just astonishingly freakin' talented.
''Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again.''
''You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.''
''That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?''
I think that there were some nice themes in this movie. I especially liked the ending, given that Jack Sparrow spent a good deal of the movie in handcuffs, in jail, in the brig, walking the plank, stranded on an island, with guns pointed at him, on the gallows, etc. Combine all of that with his confession to Elizabeth (on the Island) of what the Black Pearl really is. Did we get set up to love that ending or what? I also like that the movie started and ended on the same song, and that Elizabeth at the beginning held the key to Jack's situation at the ending.
The scenes with Jack and Barbossa in them together were by far the best. It takes until about halfway through the movie until we get them face to face. Their exchange at the plank-walking was priceless, as was the "parle" on board the Pearl. But that sword fight in the cave took all! It's new and it's classic all at once and it just feels like what pirate-movie-making should be all about.
There's a lot of great action in the movie complete with sword fights and guns. The movie also boasts a hefty amount of comedy as well, mostly provided by a couple of goofy pirates who continuously bicker and fight and do all sorts of crazy things together. The highlight scene in the movie is when right before Captain Jack battles Barbossa, the undead pirates are coming from beneath the ships and revert from human form to skeleton form when the enter the moonlight.
''You're daft, lady! You both are!''
''Daft like Jack.''
Black Pearl is truly a classic, it's humourous, it's imaginative, and it's full of swashbuckling action. It must have been a gamble trying to make a movie laugh out loud action about pirates, but they pulled it off with shining results.
The special effects for this movie are breath taking for a Disney Film and the time. This is the best of the series in my opinion, but the sequels go downhill, for money and Box-Office, whereas this Gold offering retains originality.
Gore Verbinski has directed a memorable class offering that will be considered an unforgettable experience for generations to come. Black Pearl like Matrix for example shows how the original can exist on it's own without any need for a sequel.
''The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do.''
10/10
