Pirates of the Caribbean

reviewed by Dave

I suppose it isn’t that strange that a theme park ride could be the inspiration for a movie, and, if you’re going to draw on a ride for inspiration, you could do a lot worse than Pirates of the Caribbean, one of the most beloved of Walt Disney’s theme park attractions.

That said, anyone familiar with the 5-minute ride will realize the movie is going to need an excessive amount of original material to bump the film’s runtime up to closer to two hours. With the exception of a few moments lifted from the ride, it could be said that the film version of Pirates of the Caribbean is only named after the ride for the purpose of branding.

This is all academic, though, once the film starts. After a brief flash of the title, Director Gore Verbinski plunks us down in the front seat for a surprisingly haunting homage to the ride of the same name. After a short intro sequence we are introduced to our heroes: Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is an expert blacksmith with a mysterious past who is in love with Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the governor’s daughter, who has feelings for Will, but is being pressured by her father to marry Norrington (Jack Davenport), a young recently-promoted commodore who hates all things piratey but loves all things Elizabeth-y.

Things get more complicated (and much more interesting) when the evil pirate Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his crew come to town after gold that will release them from an Aztec curse. Problem: Elizabeth has the gold they’re looking for. In the midst of all this we are introduced to one Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). As the film progresses we learn how he figures into the Barbossa side of the storyline.

If you’ve read anything about this movie in the press, you know how much attention Johnny Depp has received for his role as Jack Sparrow, both the worst and best pirate anyone’s ever seen. Depp continues to prove his immense talent and characterization abilities. His Jack Sparrow is rumored to be quite a bit different from what was originally written in the script. Someone, thankfully, had the brains to let Depp run with the character though, and the result is one of the most memorable film characters in some time. Sparrow’s grand entrance near the beginning of the film is worth the price of admission, and gives you a good idea of the tone Pirates will follow.

I was expecting to enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean, for, if nothing else, the excellent cast. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was the best summer popcorn flick I’ve seen in a long time. Everything that drives us into a cool theater on a hot summer night is here – action, special effects, romance, adventure, and comedy are all present, and, for the most part, pulled off with complete success. In some ways, the mix is reminiscent of The Princess Bride. Even the soundtrack is fun and appropriately pirate-y.

There are a few minor flaws – there were a few moments where I thought the action was repetitive, and some of the sword fighting could have been shot better – but just when you start to notice something like that, Johnny Depp delivers a great line, or the movie, like a ride, moves on to another scene that instantly grabs your attention. Pass the popcorn – this is what summer movies are about.

Note: Movie history is being made with the Pirates of the Caribbean – it’s the first Disney movie with a PG-13 rating. Parents thinking about taking their kids to see this need to realize it’s not rated PG-13 just to get the teenagers in, but for a reason. There’s a scene of major alcohol consumption, but the main reason I’d hesitate to bring young kids is the fear factor. I could have easily handled this movie when I was 12, maybe even ten, but much younger than that and I think you run the risk of having a kid with a lot of nightmares. The five-year-olds in the theater when we saw the movie seemed to alternate between bored (most of the humor isn’t geared to children) and terrified (skeletal ghost pirates abound).