But who cares, when it is so much fun? I still wish it wasn't quite so long, and for me, Depp soon wore out his welcome in ' Dead Man's Chest.' But revisiting 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' is to be reminded of how a crazy concept can actually work, if you've got a filmmaking team courageous enough to stick their necks out and just go for broke. Is 'Pirates of the Caribbean' a deep film? Surely not. This is the rare instance when a huge budget was necessary, and pays off handsomely - with every dollar right up there on the screen. The film look and tone really does live up to the stirrings of our childhood imagination, just like when we first experienced the ride, yet it also finds a perfect balance between that whimsy and a darker, more adult sensibility. The movie takes the key showpieces of the theme park ride and expands them handsomely into vast widescreen proportion, creating a whole new universe in the process. The film's production design, costumes, cinematography and special effects are overblown in a wonderful way, and are just about flawless. Director Gore Verbinski ('The Ring,' 'Mouse Hunt') finally found a blockbuster large enough to contain his usual stylistic excesses. 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' is also a fantastic visual achievement. Geoffrey Rush also goes for broke as the cursed Barbossa, the undead pirate who makes a delicious, scene-chewing baddie that's easily on par with Depp's Sparrow. Bloom and Knightley, as hopeful lovers Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, gamely try to keep up, driven by a competitive energy that generates a palpable, invigorating chemistry. Yet it is Depp's willingness to figuratively (and literally) walk the plank that keeps the rest of the film on its toes. It was widely reported that his then-controversialĪpproach to Sparrow - think a fey Keith Richards, mixed in with a bit of Pepe Le Pew - caused major jitters with the higher-ups at Disney. Yet what is so noteworthy about the first 'Pirates' is that the humanity of its characters is never sacrificed for the sake of bombast.
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Besides, the often convoluted, admittedly overlong narrative is really just a skeleton to hang an increasingly breathless series of action We haven't seen this kind of old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing, goofy, escapist popcorn entertainment since the glory days of early Spielberg and Lucas.īy now, everyone knows the story of 'The Curse of the Black Pearl,' so no plot synopsis is needed. Plot seriously, and the result is a confident, enthralling spectacle. Anchored by an edgy, fearless performance by Depp as the now-iconic Captain Jack Sparrow, 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' bravely, but humorously, takes its ludicrous supernatural pirates In hindsight, it seems like all the pre-production naysaying may be what really charged up the juices of the filmmakers to take a silly idea (a theme park ride movie!) and deliver more than anyone expected. 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' remains a rousing, grand adventure, but - even more important - it's a reminder that Hollywood entertainment flicks can still take genuine risks.
Yet it only took a few minutes for any fears I had to evaporate. Given such success, it was with some trepidation that I sat down to revisit 'The Curse of the Black Pearl.' Everyone is familiar with that feeling of disappointment when your favorite old blockbuster just doesn't hold up on repeat viewing. Even more miraculous, 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' is one of the few recent high-concept Hollywood insta-blockbusters that saw both critical and commercial love in equal measure - the reviews were almost as good as the grosses. 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' ended up reaping over $500 million in worldwide booty (the follow-up 'Dead Man's Chest' made even more), and Bloom, Knightley and especially Depp are now household names. Now here we are, only a few days away from the premiere of the film's second sequel (and purported trilogy-capper) 'At World's End,' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' has earned its place as one of the biggest phenomenons in recent cinema history. Indeed, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' seemed like a recipe for disaster. How do you turn a cheesy, '50s-era boat ride into a blockbuster movie franchise? What's more, aside from Johnny Depp (who was not yet the Oscar-nominated box office draw he is today), there were no other A-list stars in the cast, only relatively unknown British actors with funny names like Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom. When it was first announced that Disney was turning its beloved theme park attraction into a motion picture, it was met with plenty of skepticism. It may be hard to fathom in retrospect, but 'Pirates of the Caribbean' was never supposed to happen.
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