Rating: 
(out of 
)
Grade: B
When Disney first announced that they were planning to make several movies based on rides found in their theme parks, I wanted to retch, and frankly, I almost did! Making a ride based on a movie is one thing (see: Jurassic Park, Batman and Backdraft), but stretching a 2 minute theme park attraction into a 140 minute motion picture?! What was Michael Eisner thinking?! The first ride-cum-movie, The Country Bears bombed critically and financially, as I had expected. By that time though, it was too late to pull the plug on the bigger risk, Pirates of the Caribbean. After a fire wiped out thousands of dollars in sets, an outbreak of dysentery among the cast and crew, and a horrible teaser trailer, the Jerry Bruckheimer produced and Gore Verbinski directed $120 million epic looked poised to follow in the steps of The Country Bears. Even though it had everything going against it, Pirates of the Caribbean is an enjoyable summer movie, with all the capabilities for a major blockbuster. And looking at its weekend gross, its pretty safe to say that this has “sequel” written all over it as well.
When his one-time rescuer and current love Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped by undead pirates, Will Turner decides to repay the favor and save her. To do this, he enlists the help of pirate Jack Sparrow who is famous for his ineptitude. There is much more to the story though, as Will soon discovers. The skeleton-by-moonlight pirates, led by Captain Barbosa are after Elizabeth to reverse their curse that goes back to the days of Cortez. As it turns out, it isn’t Elizabeth they need, its Will. To shake things up, Jack Sparrow turns out to have a hidden agenda, as he is aiming to take-back control of the pirate’s ship, The Black Pearl of which he once served as Captain.
Swashbuckling movies are far between now a days, and its really a shame. If the Western could thrive, why not pirate-movies? A Genre so rich with stories. Perhaps the reason is because the characters in nautical adventures (can you tell I am desperately searching for another way to say “pirate movie?”) are not usually noble characters. Such is the case here, as Jack Sparrow shifts alliances several times throughout the movie. Enough to make you dizzy trying to figure out with whom Jack’s alliance lays. The movie runs 20 minutes too long, which subsequently facilitates for one more superfluous switch, but other than that instance, the uneasy aura surrounding Jack is interesting to say the least.
The only words I can seem to find to describe my feelings on the general make-up of the plot are “unexpectedly balanced.” Some standard plot devices are naturally used to aid in the progress of the necessary action sequences like the cute love story between Will and Elizabeth. To equal these standard story lines, we have characters were are very three-dimensional like Captain of the Black Pearl, Barabosa. Pirates of the Caribbean walks a narrow line between being overly cliched, and taking itself too seriously by betraying its summer-action roots, but never falters.
I have never been to Disney Land, thus, I am only familiar with the ride ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ by name. I have heard though that the movie only shares its name with its theme park roots. I am going to go out on a branch, and assume this is true, as I highly doubt a ride created decades ago can produce the same thrills as this movie. The action is non-stop in ‘Pirates,’ and for the most part the action is enjoyable. Yet there are only so many different ways to spin undead skeletons, and when the movie creeps near the 130 minute mark and audience members begin to shift in their seats, the action becomes more repetitive than inventive. The film could have easily shed 30 minutes off its running time and lose nothing important.
There couldn’t have been a better selection for a director than Gore Verbinski, whose turned last October’s ‘The Ring’ into the hit of the season. Both ‘Ring’ and ‘Pirates’ reek of atmosphere, which appears to be just what the public wants. The Ring was ridiculously plot-light, showing no sense of coherence. Yet the moody, rainy and contemporary ambiance resonated with audiences, and led that movie to a final tally of $128 million. While retaining the atmosphere of his last feature, he was able to form a better-than-decent plot which meshes perfectly with the carefree tone required of the movie. However, we can only hope that with his next movie, he will find a balance with the editing; Pirates of the Caribbean wasn’t chopped enough, while The Ring appeared to have been hacked apart by a projectionist with a big knife.
Of all the various factors that contribute to the overall success of Pirates of the Caribbean, there is one feature that stands out among the rest. The character of Jack Sparrow, is so well inhabited by Johnny Depp, that Depp has the audience wrapped around his beaded dreads, and on the edge of their seat, collectively holding their breathe for his next line. Geoffrey Rush plays villain, Captain Barbosa with just the right mix of scare and class. As the supporting couple, who are actually the reason behind many of the plot turns are played by Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly. Together, they make a nice couple, and apart they support themselves just fine. Although I had the feeling that Knightly was cast because they couldn’t get Natalie Portman (the two share a striking resemblance).
It seems that everyone in the industry and even us home-players had Pirates of the Caribbean pegged as one of this summer’s sure misses. As it turns out, its the exact opposite. Despite running uncomfortable 140 minutes, Pirates of the Caribbean captured a loot of $70 million in its first five days and with that gross managed to break a streak of disappointments going back to the weekend of June 13th, and including such “can’t-miss” movies as The Hulk, and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. ‘Pirates’ is a perfect example of how powerful word-of-mouth can be, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is worthy of every positive endorsement it might get.
© 2003 Jacob Sproul
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