Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl

What's the Plot?

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is a pirate down on his luck. Having had his ship, The Black Pearl, stolen from him by his men under the mutinous Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), he finds himself in the town of Port Royal, where all pirates are hung. Whilst trying to escape the clutches of Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport), Jack kidnaps the Govenor's (Jonathan Pryce) beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) but his escape is scuppered by Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth's childhood friend and secret admirer. Before Jack can be hung, the port comes under attack from The Black Pearl, in search of the mysterious medallion that Elizabth has around her neck. After Barbossa and his crew leave with Elizabeth, Will springs Jack from jail as he appears to be the only person who knows where The Black Pearl is headed. Stealing the H.M.S Inteceptor, the fastest ship in the fleet, Jack and Will head off after The Black Pearl, but for very different reasons, with Norrington and the British Navy not far behind.

The Review

One of the biggest surprises of The Pirates Of The Caribbean is just how damn enjoyable it is! Firstly, it's directed by the man who gave us the decidedly poor remake of the Japanese classic The Ring - Gore Verbinski. However, his latest effort smacks of his first outing - Mouse Hunt - with a handful of wondrously weird characters, superbly silly set pieces and delightfully daft dialogue! Part of it's surprise appeal must be based on where it gets it's inspiration from - the Walt Disney ride is out-dated and shows it's age when compared to the latest theme park attractions that wow the latest generations.

The film however, redresses the balance with all the necessary ingredients to not only take on this summer's blockbusters, but put most of them to shame too! This time round, the pirate/swashbuckler genre has a true champion - 1996's Cutthroat Island anyone? - and delivers enough thrills and spills to have the Hollywood hacks dragging up old pirate scripts to rush into production to cash in on it's success. Depp is undoubtedly the main treasure in the chest full of goodies with his interpretation of Jack as a cross between The Rolling Stones and Are You Being Served? - from his A class introduction (atop a mast of a "problem" ship) you can't tell whether he's drunk or camp !

A scene stealer in every right, Depp doesn't have it all his own way with Bloom and Knightly carving out an impressive secret-love couple who bounce well off each other as well as Depp and Rush who brings in a dastardly Captain nearly as good as Dustin Hoffman's Hook. A film at last worthy of the phrase "a rollicking good ride," Pirates Of The Caribbean also boasts some of the most effective visual effects since The Two Towers with the cursed crew turning into skeletons whilst caught in the moonlight, truly hair-raising and goose-bump-making. Their march across the sea-bed has to be one of this years iconic images. This is, without a doubt, a must -see film for all ages, even if you've been on the ride! Go see it now, and wait till the very end credits! Jim lad!

STEVE'S SCORE