Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

December 11, 2004

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 143 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Most of us around the office weren’t expecting much from Pirates of the Caribbean, but it is a surprisingly well done movie and actually comes close to a 5 star rating.

The movie stars off with a young Elizabeth Swann doing her Titanic impression when she spots a boy floating in the water. After a quick rescue, the crew notice a burning ship, and Elizabeth spots a mysterious black pirate ship sailing off into the mist. She’s left in charge of the boy and spots a gold pirate medallion around his neck. Not wanting him to be punished for being a pirate, she snags the gold for herself.

Fast forward 15 years or so, and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) wakes up from her dream, and the years have been quite kind to her. After we do a quick introduction of the main characters including the grown up boy Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), there’s a very amusing introduction to Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he comes ashore on his… ship.

It doesn’t take long for him to get in trouble, have a few sword fights and land in jail. He does manage to rescue Elizabeth from drowning and tick off Will before getting locked up though. In short order the Black Pearl (the mysterious black pirate ship) arrives at port and the fighting really gets started. Are the after Jack? Are they after the girl? Hell no, they’re after the gold! At this point we learn why that particular bit of gold is so important, and though everyone most likely already knows I’m not going to put it in print. At this point it doesn’t matter though, you’re already deeply enjoying the fight scenes and fun this movie has to offer.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a movie that can compare favorably to The Princess Bride, but this one certainly does. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, the actors seemed to be having a great time, and it’s the beneficiary of some excellent writing.

Go see it, make sure it’s on a nice screen, and feel comfortable going with the guys or taking a date.

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, DVD, Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Pryce, Orlando Bloom, PG-13