Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) by Winston B — 23 May 2017

When I was 8 years old, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl on DVD and I was simultaneously transfixed and horrified. I have to admit that the skeleton pirates scared the crap out of me.

But it wasn't until I saw Dead Man's Chest in theaters soon after that I became obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. And when I say obsessed, I mean OBSESSED. Third grade me spent 95% of the time in a Jack Sparrow costume.

And I am not ashamed to admit that I also had all the accompanying effects: Jack Sparrow's sword, pistol, compass, and telescope. I even had the stinking gold medallion. I WAS OBSESSED. I don't really know what it was about Pirates of the Caribbean that hooked me, but it was the start of a love of movies in general and I'm so thankful for these films.

Because of this early infatuation, I've always had a soft spot for this franchise even as I've grown older and its flaws have become more obvious. However, I am still under the disposition that Curse of the Black Pearl, the very first Pirates movie, is a film with very little imperfections.

For starters, it's an incredibly fun experience. I genuinely think it's one of the most purely fun films ever made, up there with Back to the Future and Star Wars. It's one of those movies that when it's on, you can't help but enjoy yourself.

Black Pearl also introduced the world to one of the most hilarious movie characters of all time: CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow. While Johny Depp's schtick has gotten old over the years, it still feels unbelievably fresh in this first installment.

Honestly, Jack Sparrow feels restrained in this movie when compared to how he acts in the later ones. It's such a joy to watch Jack in Black Pearl, because he actually seems to be using his wit against the other characters instead of just getting extremely lucky.

The film's other two main characters, Will and Elizabeth, are more cliché than a cliché, yet they are cliché in a way that works. Both of them have this innocence about them that works really well with Jack's swagger and drunkenness.

Black Pearl also introduces Barbosa, played by Geoffrey Rush, who is deliciously over-the-top and pirate-y. But the ones I've mentioned aren't the only great Pirates' characters. One of the things I love most about the original three Pirates movies is the comradery between all the characters, including Mr.

Gibbs, Norrington, Cotton, Jack the Monkey, and even Raggeti and Pintel, the two bumbling idiots who work for Barbosa and manage to make there way through almost every single film. When watching this movie back to back with the sequels, it's interesting to see how small-scale the action is in Black Pearl.

It's great and exciting action, but it's mostly just sword fights and regular ship battles. That's not say that this movie doesn't boast some pretty cool stuff. I mean it has freaking skeleton pirates! While the special effects were fantastic back in 2003, they definitely look dated now, but it in no way take you out of the movie.

I think it's clear that I really do love this film. It's fun, it's gorgeous, and it has hilarious characters. (Watching it last night, I just noticed for the first time that Jack makes a joke about Will being a eunuch and I died laughing.

) Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is definitely the best Pirates movie, and at just 14 years old, it's already a classic.