Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) by Randy P — 16 Mar 2014

"Gentlemen! You shall always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!".

When thinking of the greatest action-adventure movies of all-time, the first films that pop off the bat include films like The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Mark of Zorro, and just about every superhero film released by Marvel Studios (particularly The Avengers). When first looking at a film like Pirates of the Caribbean, you'd think that the film would be just an average action film that's a little dull in characterization and the plot's too convoluted, plus the fact that the film was based on a theme park ride didn't give hope to a lot of average filmgoers that never rode that awesome ride that's in the Disney theme parks. But the good news is, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is not just a great adventure action movie, it's a modern adventure masterpiece that should be ranked among the best of the best Hollywood adventure films.

Governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) has a little run in with pirates that are after a little gold piece that she discovered eight years prior on a voyage, and is taken to the captain of The Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Though she's engaged to Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport), blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) has a huge fancy for her, and wanting to show off for her, teams up with the wild and crazy pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), real captain of the pearl, to defeat Barbossa and save Elizabeth. Problem is... the crew of the Pearl are cursed by Aztec gold, the blood can only be repaid by Elizabeth's blood, and Jack has a pistol with only one shot.

The film also stars Kevin McNally as pirate Gibbs, Jonathan Pryce as Governor Swann, and Zoe Saldana as female pirate Anamaria, who hates that Jack "stole" her boat prior to the events of the film.

What's great about this film is that while it's an action film, time was spent at making a grand story to carry out the action, and it's a pretty good one at that. Immediately, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (king of "action") succeed at making us root for the characters that want to sail the high seas. Acting is also pretty strong, especially Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa (who has a great piratey accent going on in this one), Keira Knightley as Elizabeth (who manages to be a strong action star despite being the damsel-in-distress character), and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, who's about as awesome as the butt-whooping blacksmith-pirate as with Legolas. But the true star of the show is definitely Johnny Depp as the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow, who from his opening scene, you know that he's going to create an unforgettable character. What's great about it is that, like Cary Grant in Charade, you have a great time trying to figure whether he's good or bad. Plus Depp has a extremely fun time in the role, being extremely hilarious to laugh at in the more comedic moments, and is also awesome in the action sequences.

And speaking of action, it's just awesome. The swordfights are as great as some of the old adventure classics, and the stuntwork is just stunning. Industrial Light & Magic also does a great job in the visual effects, particularly the animation for the cursed skeleton army, which is so good that it looks like extreme makeup was used. The score by Klaus Badelt is one of the most awesome scores in an action movie, with catchy themes and some fun little adventurous sounds that make the film so fun to watch.

It may have had its skeptics, but Pirates of the Caribbean is modern Hollywood action at its greatest, with great action, great original storytelling, great visuals, great music, great characters, and great acting, particularly Johnny Depp's unforgettable role as Jack Sparrow, the most awesome pirate ever depicted on film. It's definitely one of the best action films of the 2000's, and I guarantee that you'll definitely have a real blast when it's all over, and you'll definitely sing "A Pirate's Life for Me" in the end, even if it's only used once and the whole song isn't sung.

"You better start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner, you're in one!".