Throwback Thursday Review: 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'

Sorry for the delayed review but this week I'm beginning a new series of reviews over the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise starting with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The reviews will be spaced out intermittently till Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in May. In the meantime, next week I'll be reviewing The Wolverine to coincide with the release of Logan since Logan will be Hugh Jackman's final outing as Wolverine and The Wolverine is the only solo Wolverine movie I've yet to review. The next two Throwback Thursday Reviews will be over King Kong (2005) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) to tie-in with Kong: Skull Island and Beauty and the Beast (2017) respectively. Reviews over new releases you can expect over the coming weeks include A Cure for Wellness, Get Out, Table 19, Logan, Kong: Skull Island, Beauty and the Beast (2017), and The Belko Experiment.

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

Nominated For: Best Actor; Johnny Depp, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. 

Undead pirates have pillaged Port Royal and kidnapped the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann, forcing blacksmith Will Turner to reluctantly team up with the egocentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and save Miss Swann from the cursed crew. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was inspired by the Disney theme park ride, making it a nearly unprecedented idea and risky undertaking at the time. Today we see big blockbusters based off everything from toys to video games to comics to now... *shivver me timbers* emojis... With the adaptation game hitting an all-time high, it's doesn't phase audiences to look back on the humble beginnings of a franchise approaching its fifth installment and perceive the first to be a risk. Fortunately for Disney though, the risk paid off as The Curse of the Black Pearl went on to make a substantial splash at the box office (Approximately $654.3 M worldwide) and a buccaneering blockbuster franchise was born. 

Director Gore Verbinski captained the endeavor voyaging from roller coaster-to-cinema screen, thankfully realizing a movie about pirates translated from a theme-park attraction probably shouldn't take itself too seriously. Verbinski mashes Jolly Roger escapades with strange supernatural elements to craft a fascinating fictional world for these charming corsairs to inhabit and swashbuckling sequences to occur. Verbinski's technical crew put forth majestic cinematography, remarkable visual effects, rugged production design, and weathered costume design which only add further authenticity to the briny buccaneers' background aesthetic. 

Verbinski steers the action in the right direction with conventional cutlass contests and engrossing naval engagements that traverse the tricky waters of energetic entertainment and nonsensical nautical fun. In the music department Klaus Badelt composed a swashbuckling score appropriately attuned to the grand sense of adventure and danger at play that remains a source of auditory amusement. 

The script comprised of a screen story from Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert and screenplay penned by Elliot and Rossio plays up privateer tropes to develop an expansive sea for these scalawags to sail. The story subverts most genre tropes with its unconventional array of characters; Elizabeth Swann's persistent in the face of danger despite being positioned as the damsel-in-distress and Jack Sparrow's in it for himself yet has a heart of gold underneath his rugged exterior. 

The cast breathing life into these scattered swashbucklers add further dimension to the characters. Orlando Bloom plays Will Turner, the typical underestimated hero of the story with charm and wit to spare while Keira Knightley embodies a capable female presence within Elizabeth Swann, ever-so-slightly transcending the damsel-hero dynamic one step at a time. Bloom and Knightley are an ideal pairing as the smoldering swordsman and lovely maiden but not quite the stars of the show when it's all said and done.  

Johnny Deep makes an excellent eccentric sea scoundrel of Jack Sparrow. Depp brings both swagger and a silliness to Sparrow, allowing him to standout from the crowd and gallivant off having stolen the show. Geoffrey Rush's Captain Barbossa is a scurvyous seadog and Rush nails the dialogue delivery. Barbossa's a standard scalawag but I feel that makes him the ideal antagonist for the story. I could watch Rush and Depp trade ruthless remarks all day long. 

Filling out the supporting cast are Kevin McNally, Jack Davenport, and Johnathan Pryce as steadfast first-mate Gibbs, straight-laced naval commodore Norrington, and the prim and proper Governor Weatherby Swann. Thanks to Verbinski's direction and the outstanding work demonstrated by his cast and crew, The Curse of the Black Pearl holds up as a visually unique and entertaining seafarers enterprise. 

Film Assessment: B