Release Date: July 9, 2003
Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Pryce
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Written by: Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (action/adventure violence, scary images)
It takes a versatile filmmaker to direct a swath of movies like the family film Mouse Hunt, the horror thriller The Ring, and the action-adventure picture Pirates of the Caribbean, but Gore Verbinski has done exactly that in his relatively young career. With this feature, Verbinski has certainly established himself as one of the most broadly talented directors in the business. Along with über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and a sterling cast, Verbinski has turned one of Walt Disney World’s most famous amusement rides into a surprisingly pleasing 150 minutes of big-screen entertainment.
In a nutshell, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl encompasses everything popcorn action movies are about: dashing heroes, beautiful damsels in distress, humorous one-liners, and breathtaking adventure. Traditionally, pirate films are ideal for this type of fun but Hollywood has delivered nothing close to this caliber in over a decade, at least. This Walt Disney picture is one of those uncommon treasures that aligns a competent director with a well-rounded script, a shrewd and powerful (though sometimes overzealous) producer, and an outstanding group of actors. And while this isn’t your typical Mouse House family movie (in fact, it is the Disney’s first ever PG-13 film), it’s certainly capable of inducing smiles and cheers from audience members of all ages.
It’s such a good time that afterward you might even start talking like one of the scoundrels yourself, and half the delight is watching the actors have just as much fun. Johnny Depp is the unquestionably enjoyable standout as the dubious pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow; he runs farther with the witty and mischievous character than writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio probably would have thought possible. The source behind Sparrow’s amusing eccentricity comes from the fact that he apparently spent some time stranded on a deserted island with nothing but a sizeable cache of good Caribbean rum to keep him company.
That hasn’t stopped him from being one of the most daring (if not the most fortunate) pirates in the Caribbean, though. The plot starts to unfold when a misunderstanding with the governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Kinghtly), lands Sparrow in prison. Not long after, the nefarious Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his crew of evil and vicious pirates terrorize the town in search of a very special piece of gold that Elizabeth happens to hold in her possession. When Barbossa’s men kidnap her, the very concerned Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a young blacksmith who fell in love with Elizabeth as a child, releases Jack Sparrow from prison; in return, Sparrow will help Will find Barbossa’s infamous ship, the Black Pearl.
The two set out to find the ship and foil the plans of the dastardly pirates who will stop at nothing to expel a curse that befell them years ago after they stole an ancient treasure of Aztec gold. All the pirates need is the last stolen piece -- which Elizabeth has -- and a special someone’s blood and they will be free from a hex that makes them each an undead corpse.
The story is, of course, quite fantastical and there are more pirate and adventure film clichés than you can count, but writers Elliot and Rossio crafted a very smart screenplay that provides sound reasons for every sword duel, gun fight, sea battle, and walking, talking skeleton. That’s something that very few action films can claim and for being one of the first movies to ever be based on an amusement park attraction, it’s particularly pleasing to see such thorough creativity.
The writers’ vivid imagination is matched with outstanding visuals, including rich cinematography, impeccable costumes and make-up, and yet another excellent display of special effects from the magicians at Industrial Light & Magic. Like Verbinski’s The Ring, Pirates is thick with atmosphere and rich in the elements of its genre. The gloominess that follows the Black Pearl everywhere it goes, mixed with an ominous and exciting score by Klaus Badelt, is only one of the movie’s well-executed elements. Also definitely worth mentioning are the references to the Walt Disney World ride (look for a group of jail birds coaxing the key-carrying prison dog, a drunk man sleeping with pigs, and various renditions of “A Pirate’s Life for Me”) and the extremely impressive climactic battle involving a horde of moonlit skeletons clashing with a fleet of British officers (notice the flawless visual effects as the creatures cross in and out of the moon light).
Gore Verbinski has definitely staked a claim in Hollywood as one of the best new directors and Pirates of the Caribbean is the ultimate proof, if The Ring wasn’t evidence enough. It’s hard to say if any other filmmaker at his level could have created such a well-balanced action film, nor whether anyone else have let his star, Johnny Depp, run so far with his supremely delightful character. If the overlong title is a hint that more high seas adventure is on the horizon, then Hollywood, ye beware: Pirates of the Caribbean will plunder anything in its way.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)