Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Introduction

Sixteen Men On A Dead Man`s Chest; Yo-Ho-Ho And A Bottle Of Rum...
Avast there, me hearties an` don`t `ee knock it all back at once...

Sorry. Got a bit carried away there.

"Pirates Of The Caribbean" has got to be my movie of the year. It`s definitely the best Pirate movie. Ever.

Now go on, hooks up everybody who thought this movie would be a disaster? Based on a ride at Disneyland? Pull the other one.

If they publish a movie dictionary sometime, under the word "audacity" will be the poster of this movie. Everything about it is completely audacious from the casting, through the performances to the sheer scale of the production. "Bonkers" could also be illustrated the same way.

Directed by Gore Verbinski from a sharply witty script by Shrek`s Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, "Pirates" gives a modern shake-up to a film genre that never really blossomed beyond a couple of Errol Flynn movies and the also magnificently bananas "The Crimson Pirate" with Burt Lancaster. Of course, there`s more to the story than simple pirate folk; the Black Pearl is manned by no ordinary swashbucklers. Captain Barbossa and his crew are cursed by the gold of Cortes they plundered and as a result when moonlight shines on them they are revealed as the undead skeletons they really are. This is a pirate movie with an Indiana Jones twist, served up with wit and style.

To lift the curse, the pirates need the last piece of Cortes` gold and the blood of the child of their shipmate Bootstrap Bill who Barbossa sent to Davy Jones` locker. Davy Jones` locker as in the bottom of the sea, not the little feller who used to sing with The Monkees, savvy?

The sheer, shining genius of this movie is the completely bonkers performance of Johnny Depp as the magnificent Captain Jack Sparrow, first seen stepping from the mast of his sinking boat to the wharf of Port Royal. Sparrow completely rewrites the whole pirate idiom, presenting a pirate-as-rock-star character with Depp swaggering around as a Keith Richards clone - never quite sober, full of eccentric charm and rum. He shamelessly steals a movie that was completely his in the first place.

On the side of sanity is LOTR`s Orlando Bloom, hanging up his elf-ears for a sword as young blacksmith Will Turner. He finds himself allied with Jack Sparrow in a quest to rescue the Governor`s daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightley in a wonderfully spirited performance) from cursed pirate captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush in full Robert Newton flow).

All the pirates in the movie are wonderfully batty characters. Barbossa is a genial rogue who more than anything would like a bushel of apples to eat once the curse is lifted. Among his crew are Pintel and Ragetti, played by former Star Trek Ferengi Lee Arensen and The Office`s Gareth, Mackenzie Crook. The latter of whom has lost an eye and regular pops in or out a wooden prosthetic as he cannot afford a glass one.

Completing the cast list are stalwart British actors Jonathan Pryce as Governor Swann, Elizabeth`s father, and as Commodore Norrington the scourge of the pirates, Jack Davenport. Giles New and Angus Barnett offer wonderfully clueless support in a number of scenes as members of Norrington`s garrison.

Video

Lush. The image is faultless. Presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, colours are crisp and bright, and the dark scenes have plenty of detail.

Audio

The movie has a THX certified soundtrack reproduced in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. Crank up the volume and you can hear planks splintering during the sea battle. The movie has a powerful score written by The Time Machine`s Klaus Badelt and produced by Disney regular Hans Zimmer.

Features

Coming on two discs, the first disc contains the movie in all its glory along with four audio commentaries. Four?? That`s as many as Lord of the Rings! There are two full-length screen-specific yak tracks, one with Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski, and one with writers Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and Jay Wolbert. There are also two selected-scenes commentaries, one with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and a second (the most raucous) with Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport. The first disc also includes DVD-ROM material, the entire screenplay which can be read alongside the movie, and also the storyboards for the movie. The movie is fully subtitled.

The second disc contains more DVD-ROM material, including a history of the Disney ride, photo gallery and an effects studio where you can scan in a photo of yourself and give your image a cursed-pirate makeover. On the regular extras front, there are a number of short featurettes ranging from 38 minutes to 4 minutes about the making of the movie. There`s a 3 minute blooper reel, nineteen minutes of deleted scenes, a closer look at the "Moonlight Serenade" sequence, masses of galleries featuring concept art, storyboards and publicity materials and an 18 minute clip from the 1960s series "Walt Disney`s Wonderful World of Color" about the development of the original ride.

Conclusion

The movie is breathtaking in every sense of the word, a genuine romp through the 17th Century Caribbean. I`ve watched the whole thing about half-a-dozen times now and there`s always something to leave me with a daft grin on my face - from spotting `Allo `Allo`s Lt. Gruber welcoming Jack on the dock, to learning one shot that I hadn`t noticed anything untoward about was a bluescreen shot in the studio. This movie`s going to keep me entertained for months. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!