“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (Walt Disney Pictures)
If you have been to Disney World one of your favorite rides is probably “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Now Disney has used that ride as the basis for a swashbuckling saga of the high seas. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” is an action packed adventure that keeps you enthralled – for the first hour. The next hour and fifteen minutes it all goes downhill and ends up weakly.
Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow. He has been the Captain of the ship “The Black Pearl,” but his mutinous crew led by Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) put him off on a deserted island and left him to die. They then stole a chest of Inca gold but one piece was missing. It was given to a boy named Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) who in turn had it taken from him by the Governor’s daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightley).
Because of their theft the crew of the Black Pearl is now cursed. They are human looking but when seen in the moonlight they are walking skeletons. They are searching for the missing piece of the treasure for that can lift the “curse” from them. When they learn Elizabeth has the one piece missing, they kidnap her. Sparrow and Turner join forces to get her back and in turn Sparrow’s control of his ship.
All of this sounds interesting and it is, up to a point. But halfway through it becomes tedious and we see one swashbuckling scene too many. Thankfully Depp’s quirky performance as Sparrow brightens things up. He is never dull in the film and without him it would sink to the bottom of the sea.
Bloom on the other hand is blah. He adds nothing as Turner and his scenes with the beautiful Knightley lack passion. Bloom has been a major hit in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, but in this one he is just competent. Knightley on the other hand is the second best thing in the movie. She and Depp seem to be having a good time with all the action and adventure and that makes the audience enjoy them too.
The film is rated PG-13 and that is a first for a Walt Disney movie. The rating is appropriate as there is mild profanity, some violence, and some scary scenes of the skeletal undead.
With a little more editing and a trimming of thirty minutes or so the movie would have been more enjoyable. Still even at two hours and fifteen minutes the movie does perk up every time Depp is on screen. He is having a hoot and a holler of a good time and that makes us thrill along to everything he does.
I scored “Pirates of the Caribbean” a yo-ho-ho 5 out of 10.
