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Saturday, June 24, 2006

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" review


Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Directed by Gore Verbinski
Writing credits Ted Elliott Terry Rossio

Johnny Depp.... Jack Sparrow
Geoffrey Rush.... Barbossa
Orlando Bloom.... Will Turner
Keira Knightley.... Elizabeth Swann

I had low expectations for this one. A movie based on a Disney theme park ride reeked of desperation. The trailer didn't help me either. "You want pain? Try wearing a corset!" Ah ha ha ehhh. My brother saw it and said it was fantastic. He wanted to see it again. This is a guy who only goes to the movie theater if the movie really excites him. The last flick he saw in the theater was "The Two Towers". So I went with his advice and saw it with him.

Upon arriving in the theater, I noticed the crowd was made up of mostly little kids. This was the first warning sign that I was at the wrong movie. Then came the coming attractions. After seeing trailers for "Brother Bear" and "Freaky Friday", I was sweating bullets. I started envisioning a movie in which pirates were singing and dancing to "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" while families floated by on rides taking pictures. Happily, the movie surprised me.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" is a ton of fun. There are three reasons. One, the immense amount of sword fighting action. The movie's motto: When in doubt, add a sword fight. Two, Johnny Depp. He is hilarious as Capt. Sparrow. He was born to play a pirate. I could go for the continued adventures of Capt. Sparrow. Three, the ghoul/zombie angle for the pirates. If they were just normal pirates kidnapping a pretty girl, the movie would not have been half as cool as it was. The special effects were outstanding. Geoffrey Rush was also very good.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" is a really fun movie. Well worth seeing. I had a lot of little kids babbling and having to go to the bathroom at my theater. Maybe I need to see it again too.

SCORE: 4 out of 4 pirate Depps

Looking forward to more Knightley adventures with Captain Jack.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

dr. gore, in my opinion "curse of the black pearl" is an unwatchable abomination, (just like the 2 sequels, they were appalling as well), i simply cannot understand the appeal of these films, pirate movies are so incredibly out-moded and laughable, (just like musicals and westerns), it really is quite beyond my understanding that these films have made the kind of money that they have, its bizarre. Any one of the zero budgeted horror and sleaze movies that you review on this site, (chosen completely at random), would have more imagination and entertainment value in it than all 3 pirates of the caribbean movies combined. Errol flynn, gene kelly, john wayne, and douglas fairbanks are all ludicrously out-moded anachronisms from a by-gone era, and when they try to bring them back its so "BLOODY EMBARRESSING" !!!. Now then...keaira knightley...mmm...well she is quite a sexy bird, although strickly speaking she is just a replacement for the now ageing kate winslet !!!.

Dr. Gore said...

Pirate movies are pure fantasy. If done right, they can be a lot of fun. Certainly, it could be considered retro fun but still good times with Captain Jack and the lovely Ms. Knightly. This flick was the epitome of a mainstream adventure movie. A perfect summer flick. The sequels were disappointing, (with the third one being pretty bad) as the special effect overload drained all of the goodwill away but the first one was quite enjoyable.