No. 49 -
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Prepare to
be blown out of the water.
Rated PG-13 for undead violence, and scary scenes
Director: Gore Verbinski; Screenplay: Ted Elliott,
Terry Rossio
Starring: Johnny Depp,
Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Pryce,
Jack Davenport, Kevin R. McNally, Zoe Saldana
Movie Introduction: The
scallywag pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow (Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the
Caribbean without a ship or crew. His timing is inopportune, however,
because later that evening the town is besieged by a mysterious,
fog-encased pirate ship. The marauding pirates kidnap the governor's daughter,
Elizabeth (Knightley), who possesses of a valuable coin that is linked
to a terrible curse. A young and gallant
blacksmith (Bloom), who secretly loves Elizabeth, allies with Sparrow to pursue the ruffians.
Defining Moment:
"That has got to be the best pirate I've ever seen."
Jack Sparrow and William Turner
have agreed to go after the haunted Black Pearl. Jack feels the
craft is his, and he wants it back. William seeks to rescue Elizabeth Swan, now a captive of Barbossa
and his miscreant crew. Jack and Will board the HMS Dauntless,
one of the British ships anchored in the bay and send it's disarmed crew
back to the island. Commander Norrington, aboard the speedy
Interceptor, assesses the situation and immediately pulls his ship
alongside the Dauntless and boards her along with his men.
Meanwhile Sparrow and Turner, swing aboard the now empty, but sail-ready
Interceptor. They cut the lines and quickly shove off, leaving
Norrington and his crew on the disabled Dauntless - a nifty escape
indeed. (watch the full scene on
YouTube)
Something subtle you might have missed: the pirates of improv
Johnny Depp improvised the catch
phrase "Savvy?" and all references to the word "eunuch". The
monkey, after returning the Aztec coin to Barbossa, smiles. This was
purely by chance and not planned. Much of the scene in which Jack
Sparrow is captured in the treasure cave is ad-libbed dialogue, namely
the near-incoherent ramblings about parlay, the French, mayonnaise and
more about eunuchs. The last lines of the film, "bring me that horizon",
was also developed by Depp on the day the scene was filmed.
Memorable Quotes:
"You best start believin'
in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!" -
Capt. Barbossa
"That's what a ship
is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and
sails, that's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the
Black Pearl really is... is freedom." -
Capt. Jack Sparrow
Dad's Review:
There is not really a
great "Dad story" associated with this Disney film. Pirate jobs
were hard to come by when I was growing up. I never really
understood how to "pirate" software. I've never felt the need to
say ""ahoy!" or "avast" or "argghh", except that one Halloween
when I was ten. I have been to St. Thomas and St. John, in the
Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea. That's about it.
I
had heard that Disney was making a movie based on the ride at their
Disney parks. After a full two minute eye-roll, I scoffed at the idea
and muttered something akin to, "...money-grubbing, dumbest idea
ever..." I mean, seriously. So I stayed away opening week, but the film,
to my surprise,
was creating quite a buzz. Audiences and critics both liked it. It did
star one of my favorite actors in Johnny Depp. So I caved and hit the
theater. Of course, it shivered me timbers!
This movie wins my unofficial
award for "Most Watchable". If it's on, I watch it. It is fun,
witty, adventurous, fantastical, scary and even a bit romantic. It
knows when to be serious and when to poke fun at itself. The plot jumps
all over the place, but I never feel lost.
It IS a great pirate film,
paying homage to all great pirate films before it.
I would imagine that pulling
together a period piece like this would present some challenges to the
script writers. You want to use language of that period, but it needs to
depart from that enough to appeal to a modern audience. This script hits
those notes to perfection. It's smart without appearing dated. The
dialogue is one of its strengths, without question.
Then there's Johnny Depp... in
the role he was destined to play... a filthy roust-about, adorned with
tattoos and clad in leather and whalebone and lace. He steals every
scene he's in (in fact he steals every second he is
on screen, the thieving wretch!). The actor did lots of pre-research and found that pirates were thought
of as the "rockstars" of their time. This is the reason he
modeled much of this character after Rolling Stones rock
guitarist Keith Richards. (Richards
would eventually play a role in one of the sequels) Depp's Captain
Sparrow is
one of cinema's great performances. The actor is clearly having such a good time.
Final Note: I know Disney
saw dollar signs with the success of this film. That's right, time to
sequel the hell out of it. I tried the follow-on films, and frankly,
they not only pale in comparison to the original, but they just run
everything good into the jagged reefs. Which kinda breaks my heart
because Jack Sparrow is one of my favorite characters in all of cinema.
Onto No. 50... Kaiju Zilch
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