Monday, February 21, 2011

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [M]


Elizabeth Swan, daughter of the Governor of Port Royal, has always dreamed that it would be exciting to meet a pirate. However, that dream soon turns into a nightmare when the fearsome crew of the infamous Black Pearl kidnaps her. Desperate to rescue the woman he loves, Will Turner enlists the help of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow to commandeer a royal naval ship and embark upon a great adventure that will change his life. 

I went and saw this in the cinemas purely because I was going through an Orlando Bloom phase at the time. I had no idea what the film was about and therefore came out of the cinema bubbling with excitement because I had seen the greatest and rollicking pirate film of all time. I went and saw it a grand total of three times when it was at the cinemas. 

“This is Aztec gold. One of 882 pieces they delivered in a stone chest, Cortez himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortez was insatiable. So the Heathen Gods placed upon the gold, a terrible curse. Any mortal who removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity.” 

Elizabeth Swan, daughter of the Governor of Port Royal, has always dreamed that it would be exciting to meet a pirate. But that dream quickly turns into a nightmare when the fearsome crew of the Black Pearl kidnaps her. Once aboard the ship, the nightmare becomes more frightening as Elizabeth discovers that Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants are cursed with immortality and plan on using her blood to end their suffering. As soon as he learns that Elizabeth has been kidnapped, Will Turner the talented blacksmith embarks on an epic venture to rescue her, enlisting the help of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate and former captain of the Black Pearl. Commandeering a royal naval ship and sailing with a buccaneer crew, Will is soon on an epic adventure that will change his life forever. 

THIS MOVIE AHD EVERYTHING RIGHT!!! Like a pirates version of Star Wars or Indiana Jones, it was perfectly balanced between comedy, action, and romance, and the power of the film came from its original story and its memorable characters. Even the original soundtrack was rollicking and memorable. 
I think what made the film such a success was the fact that it was a good old-fashioned pirate movie. These pirates didn’t wear striped shirts and have hooks for hands or anything, they were rotting human beings and this effect was perfectly achieved by the makeup and costume designers. Kudos. 
The script was an absolute winner! The marriage between the script and the characters is what makes or breaks a movie and in this film it was a match made in Heaven. 
Not to mention the performances! This movie had the most unusual mix of stars in it and each one delivered a knockout performance. 
Johnny Depp stars as Captain Jack Sparrow and he was nothing short of genius. This is the movie where I first fell in love with Johnny Depp. I remember reading an interview where he said that he based the character of Captain Jack on a cross between Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew and the rest remains to be seen. His performance was charming, funny, swashbuckling, and just so memorable. To this day, my family still use quotes from Captain Jack around the house. 
Geoffrey Rush stars as Captain Barbossa and he was amazing. I seriously believe that Geoffrey was a wicked pirate captain in a previous life. He was charming, but at the same time menacing and a real delight to watch from start to finish. 
Starring Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, Jack Davenport, and Jonathan Pryce, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a timeless classic action film filled with swordfights, curses, knockout special effects, romance, amazing costumes, killer makeup design, ships, and treasure. It’s the perfect stay-in-with-pizza-on-a-Saturday-night type movie. I love it to pieces!

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