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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Who would have thought that a film based on a theme park ride would be so successful, and so good. Obviously, the executives at Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney had some inkling, otherwise Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl would never have been made, and the movie choices of the world would have been a great deal poorer for that.
The plot is a mix of a number of traditional pirate stories, mutiny, treasure, a curse and that old stand by, revenge. Throw in with all of this a whole lot of fascinating characters, each with their own motivations, all of which change throughout the film, and the series, with the exception of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who just wants his ship back.
Without doubt, the film would have been at best mediocre without the brilliant portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow by Johnny Depp. Right from his entrance, which has to be the best entrance ever made by a character in a film, through the rest of the film, Captain Jack steals every scene he is in, and makes you wish he was in them all.
Dodginess
A movie based on a theme park ride that actually has a number of coherent plotlines is dodgy all by itself. Johnny Depp emulating Keith Richards is also pretty dodgy. Just with those two factors, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl would score 5 on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Scale. The fact that it has pirates, and undead ones at that is just icing on the cake. Having mentioned the undead pirates, it would be remiss not to end up giving their appearance the dodgiest moment of the film. The fact that you see them at least 4 times, just reinforces how dodgy the subject matter is.
Rewatchability Rating
It’s got action, it’s got humour, it’s got Keira Knightly, of course it was going to score a 5 on the rewatchability index. In fact, I’ve watched this one so often it should almost get a six. This movie doesn’t just get watched repeatedly for one or two scenes, no, the whole film is worthy of repeated viewing.
Most Memorable Quote
Despite the witty wordplay and humorous comments, the one question that keeps on recurring, and indeed has probably become synonymous with the name Captain Jack Sparrow is also the phrase that seems to stick in your mind, probably because it is repeated so often, not just in the first Pirates of the Caribbean. From now on, instead of using the phrase WTF, the real question is always “Why is the rum gone?”
Final Thoughts
For a film that was hyped as much as this was, it was a surprise for it to be better than the hype said it would be. If you weren’t a fan of Johnny Depp before this film, you will be once you’ve seen it.