Take A Look at Disney

4/28/14

A Look at Disney Sets Sail For Adventure: Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl





Argh,  welcome   back  aboard  the SS  Fluttershy.  Today,  we board the vessel  that be known as  The  Black  Pearl.   Yes,  we are taking a look at the first  Pirates film.  Now,  it's funny but I recall, when this film was first announced.  People weren't too keen on this idea but can you blame them, when the last movie based on a theme park attraction was this?



















Yeah,  this didn't leave the best impression  of films based Disney attractions.  However,  Pirates came along and blew people out of the water.  Yeah,  I didn't  mean to go there with that pun  but this film became big and become a phenomenon.  Leading  to one of Disney's most successful  franchises  and to the creation of one of the most iconic characters  in  Captain  Jack  Sparrow.



















I remember that this was my first big exposure to Johnny Depp as at the time,  I didn't know much about him,  other than  the film, Cry-Baby.





















Anyways,  let's begin.   Do note,  that this may end up being one of my longest reviews as there is heck of lotta stuff to cover.


Trailer



Trailer

Wow,  this trailer sure shows off a lot of the film,  maybe a bit too much.  Trailers always walk a fine line of not giving you an idea of what the movie is about to  revealing too much and seems to do the latter. 



The Plot



We  open the film   on  the  HMS   Dauntless   with   a   young    Elizabeth Swann   singing  a  classic  tune   that  you'd  all know,  if you'd   ever  been to  any of the Disney  Parks.











And   we  get this line  from  Joshamee   Gibbs    letting us know  that   singing on the high  seas   is  bad luck.







“Quiet, missy! Cursed pirates sail these waters. You don't want to bring 'em down on us now, do ye?”





We also learn that it be bad luck to have women on ship . This is never addressed but it does appear to be true. That is one thing I've noticed with these movies, they attempt somewhat to be faithful to true Pirate lore. Elizabeth expresses interest in piracy while her father, Governor Swann and Lt. Norrington. They later come across a merchant vessel that has been wrecked and Gibbs claims it to be the work of pirates and Elizabeth comes across a young boy, that is a lone survivor. A young William Turner, who is laying unconscious on a piece of driftwood and comes across a gold medallion, that we will find out later is a piece of Aztec Gold.
  







As  our young  lass looks away,  she finds  out  that  Mr.  Gibbs was right all along  and  it was indeed the work of pirates .   Seeing  this,   Elizabeth shuts  her eyes and we cut to 8 years later,  where   Elizabeth is  now played  by  Keira  Knightley   And  this  is interesting ,  reading up  on the POTC  Wiki,  the writers  of the movies  consider,  Miss Swann to be  the main protagonist of the story.  Which in a way,  yeah,  I can totally  see that.  I mean  everyone  loves  Captain  Jack  Sparrow and for good reason but   I'd argue  that Elizabeth  and Will  went  on more of an arc through the first three films and  by the time,   At World's  End had come around, their  story was done  I think that may be one of the reasons, why I didn't like  On Stranger Tides,  without Will  &  Elizabeth,  you really don't   have  much of a story  and Jack can't  carry a movie all by himself.     Back  to the review,  we see a now  grown-up   Elizabeth getting dressed and she still has the medallion and she puts  it on as she gets dressed, her father has brought  her a gift,  a corset  that   he hopes she'll wear  to the promotion ceremony  of Norrington.    Swann then  gets a visit  as Will Turner  shows up to provide the governor with a sword and this is where we get our first  hint that Elizabeth and will have feelings  for one another. It's  kinda  obvious.









Honestly,  it couldn't   be  anymore  obvious  that these two  had feelings   for one another,  if you put   a sign that said "They're  In Love" in the middle  of this scene.  Meanwhile,  Captain   Sparrow  makes his grand entrance  on  a sinking  ship.  Classic  Sparrow.



















He's  in the  market for a new ship,  after  he pays off  the  harbormaster and  goes   to take his fancy   from ships  but  he  is stopped by two  guards but he is able  to  distract  them  with the tale  of   the Black Pearl.    We will getting  to that ship   down the way.   Meanwhile,   Norrington  notes  that he  thinks  that  Elizabeth  is a fine  woman   and   proposes  to her  and  just  at this moment,  she faints from the tightness   of her corset and falls from the high   areas  into the water.  No one  goes  into  save her until  our pirate captain   goes to her aid and saves  Miss Swann.   After  saving  Miss  Swann,  Sparrow   takes  notice  of her medallion and takes  her captive.



  











And   this is also ,  when  his  branding from  the East India   Trading  Company  is noticed  and this marks  him  as  a pirate.








The  prequel  books  about Jack's  life  of how  he became  a pirate explain how he got the branding   and  just like in the second movie,  it was Cutler Beckett that did it to him.    It  was in the second book after failing  an assignment for Beckett, that  Sparrow  was branded  as a pirate.   Yes,  there was a time  in Sparrow's  life, when he worked for Cutler Beckett.   That   must've been an awkward time in life .  There is the the  Jack  Sparrow book series but the branding  seems  to come out  in the novel,  The Price of Freedom.






 According  to these books,  Jack  was once a clean cut man that  worked for the East India  Trading Company and wasn't  always the pirate that he is in the books.  





 Along his escape route,  Captain Sparrow   comes across the blacksmith shop that Will Tuner in apprenticing  at  and we get what is in my opinion, one of  easily the best moments in the film.  That sweet sword fight between   Jack and Will.   Honestly,  this is the best moment  in the film.  The choreography  is stunning  and just really great to look at.







Oh,  that's  not right.  That's  from the Lego game  (I should  play that again, sometime).  Here we go.















Honestly,  everything from the way,  these two engage in the duel  to how, they are able to keep up with one another is quite  impressive  and  quite  a sight  to behold.  In many  respects,  I would  rank this alongside the  magic   duel  between   Harry  and   Malfoy  or  Luke  Vs.  Vader  as one  of the best   duels  in cinema.





Weird  side note  but all three  of the films,  I mentioned had Lego video games.  Hmm.   Anyways  back  to the reviews,   I could honestly go on and on about  how awesome  this scene  is,  but   we  have  more  pressing  matters   at hand besides how cool,  this scene  is.  Man,  I wish   I had planned to do a Breaking Down The Scene for this  movie  because    I could do an entire  article  on that  scene. *Make  note for future*  Review the sword fight between  Jack and Will for  a future installment of Breaking Down The Scene.   Y'know,  here's  that scene for  you guys  to watch.     Enjoy.   Y'know  what, let's  go ahead and talk about this scene at length.    It's  interesting  in this scene as it appears  like Jack  is testing  Will's strength whereas  it seems  like   Will  is doing this for the honor  of Miss Swann  and Jack's  reaction,  when Will tosses his sword. That is  just  priceless  but  Will isn't  out of the fight just yet.     Because  Will uses  a branding stick to  fight Jack .  Man,  this fight is just great.  I don't   know  what else   to say about this moment other than it's really awesome and my favorite  POTC  moments  in general.   Jack  is finally  knocked unconscious   by  Will's  employer  and  The Royal  Navy  come  to drag him away.  And  here we get  our  next  ride reference as the  cell that Jack is  in,  is a  great recreation  of the cell  from  the ride.    It's  a  nice little  nod to the source material  without being  in your face about it.    I  think  that  is where one areas where the other ride films failed,  they  had to point out  the references,  whereas with this film,  they  felt a little subtle and found a way to work them into the story.   










For  comparison's sake,  here's  the scene from the ride.












The accuracy  to detail  is just stunning  here and even the prison dog looks like the dog from the  ride.   That is some spot-on  casting.     And plus, it doesn't hurt that the dog is really cute.














Awe,   and  even  more impressive is that is they  had the whistling  from that particular moment.   Yeah,  I'll be honest and say  that one of the best things  about this movie  are   picking  out the references to the ride.   I mean,  Jack even references  the fact that the dog never moves.

 "The dog is never going to move"


  Just as this happened Port Royal  is now under siege by the infamous  Black Pearl led by the dread Hector Barbossa.     A man so evil that Hell itself  spat him back out.   There's an image to  ponder on.











And we learn that Elizabeth's  medallion has called the ship   and we see the crew  attack the city and go after Elizabeth and two crew members,  Pintel  and Ragetti  attack  Elizabeth Swann.











Hi Grumpy.   Pintel's actor, Lee Arenberg   plays  Grumpy  on  Once Upon A Time.   The fact that  an actor  from my  favorite TV show is in these movies is pure awesomeness.
















Elizabeth being smart  on her feet  hides  her true  identity and says that her last name is Turner  and uses a parlay  to speak to the pirate's  captain as she knows, they are after the medallion.  She goes  so that she can asked for the attack to be seized.  Barbossa  agrees  but  finds a loophole and abducts  Elizabeth.   Of course,  this   is after Miss Swann threatens  to drop the medallion into the depths below.

 











This  moment  to me  shows  how  strong  willed,  Elizabeth is and how she's  not willing to give up or give in but as we see,  it didn't work. We  later see that Miss Swann is asked to dine  with  Barbossa.  Elizabeth,  at  first  refuses  but  she's told that  Barbossa  knew that she'd say that and her alternative  is   to dine  with the crew naked.  She decides to dine  with the captain and this where we learn of the curse.

For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor the warmth of a woman's flesh. You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!

And  Elizabeth  tells    Barbossa  that she doesn't believe in ghost stories but  she does once, she sees the  cursed Barbossa as   she's now in one.













Man,  that is such a great effect and we learn  that  ship , ten years ago was under the  captaining  of Jack Sparrow until the crew led  by  Barbossa ,  a mutiny against  Jack Sparrow marooning, and stole   the bearings  of Isla  de  Mutera from the captain and  leave  him marooned with  a pistol, containing  a single shot. The island contained an Aztec treasure that was cursed but the crew believed it to be a myth and took the treasure for themselves.   Only one pirate protested the mutiny,   Bootstrap Bill,   the father of William Turner.  Alas it was to no avail as Barbossa had him thrown overboard.  But before he was thrown  overboard,  good ole  Bootstrap  sent  a piece of the gold  to his son, the very same that Elizabeth now holds in her possession.  And the only way to break the curse is to return of every last piece of Aztec gold to it's rightful place and we also learn that as a part of the curse, the crew's  lust for gluttony and greed can never  be cured.  With  both the medallion and  Elizabeth in tow,  Barbosaa  not realizing that  Elizabeth  lied about her lineage thinks he  has what he needs to lift the curse.  In  a cave full of treasure trying to lift the curse,  Barbossa  anoints the last coin  with that of Miss Swann's blood and drops  the piece  of gold  into the chest but  the  curse  does not work  and   the crew  questions  this and   to  validate whether or not the curse had been lifted,  Barbossa  shoots   Pintel but  it has no effect on him  and   angered and confused,   he asked, Elizabeth if her father was Bill Turner.   To,  which  Elizabeth replies  no and   if she  knows, where his child is  that  sailed from England 8 years ago.   She refuses to answer and   Barbossa knocks her out.  As our  heroes reach the island,  Will suspects  that Jack  may betray him and knocks him out and  this  a bit after this great line from Captain Jack.

 You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you are well on your way to becoming one: sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga, and you're completely obsessed with treasure."
"That's not true! I am not obsessed with treasure."


This  is so true,  of both  Will and Elizabeth  as over the course  of these  films  become  pirates.   Will  reaches   Elizabeth  and takes  her back to the Interceptor , the ship  that Jack   had captained  to find his old first mate.  Meanwhile,  Captain  Jack  is discovered  by the crew  of  The Black Pearl  wandering around and take him to Barbossa.   Jack  invokes  the right  of parlay  but it does not  work  as Barbossa   orders him killed.    Back on The Interceptor,   Elizabeth gives  the medallion back  to Will  and realizes  that it was his blood that they needed to lift the curse.   Angry,  Will  drives   away the woman he loves.    Meanwhile aboard  The Black  Pearl,  Captain  Jack  makes a barter, he'll  reveal  the identity  of Bootstrap's  child  in exchange for the ship.  At  the same time,  both ship  engage in a fight  in cannon fight but the Pearl wins and take the medallion   and the crew  of  the Interceptor   is  imprisoned and Barbossa  watches as The Interceptor  is sunk.










Will  then reveals himself to be...















Oh wait,  that's  not right. That's the wrong movie franchise.   Will reveals  himself  to be the son  of Bootstrap Bill, who earlier  in the movie, he denied that his father was ever a pirate as he believed his father was  an honest  and good man.  Which isn't  too far off.    Will  demands  that the crew   not be harmed  or he will shoot himself  or fall overboard but Barbossa  finds another loophole as he maroons  Jack and Elizabeth,  that  Jack  was marooned  on last time.   Will is then taken  to Isla  de  Mutera,  where  Barbossa  plans to kill him and breaks the curse, once and for all.   Elizabeth and Jack  as mentioned are stranded on the same island  and Elizabeth wants to know, how Jack escaped    last time.   He answered  that  he  bartered  passage off the island with rum runners but  seeing as they are  long  out of business,  Jack  has no plan for escape.   That night,  Jack and  Elizabeth get drunk off the rum and sing that classic shanty.  The next morning,  Elizabeth had set up  an  SOS  by burning  all the rum.   This   does   not please  the pirate  captain, one bit.












This  line  has become  something  of an internet  meme,  I mean  one  of  the Facebook pages that one  of my best  friends from college follows  is  called But Why Is The Rum Gone?   Elizabeth  and Jack  are eventually  saved by Norrington  and Elizabeth  tries  to convince  Norrington  to save Will but he will not do it until  Elizabeth agrees to wed  Norrington.  Upon  arriving  at the island,  Sparrow  is able to convince  Norrington's  men  to lie  low in ambush For Barbossa's crew, who  he lures to come out  He   is  able to convince Barbossa  to   delay  the killing  of William  Turner  until  after the Royal  Navy  have been knocked off.  This  proves  to be all part of  Jack's  plan,   however there  a wrench  in his plan  as the undead  crew  can walk  on the ocean.




Jack  being  a pirate  had stolen a coin, himself and is now  a part of the curse and we  get  our first glimpse of undead Jack.











I just love  Jack's  reaction here as  it's like,  "Oh,  that's what it's like"     And we get a decent  sword fight between  Jack and Barbossa but it can't top the one between Jack and Will.












And  now,  Jack's blood must also be given in order for the curse to be lifted.  During the fight,  Jack  is able to distract,  Barbossa  long enough for he and Will to return the two coins, just as Will is about  to drop  the coin and close the chest,  Jack  uses his one shot from when  he was marooned a decade ago.

Ten years you carry that pistol, and now, you waste your shot

But  Will points  out,  that he had not wasted it and  Barbossa falls to his death  (for now) holding a sour green apple.  Something that he considered a delicacy and something he had yearned to taste after the curse was lifted and you'll noticed that he had a bushel  of them,   on his desk, when he was captaining The Black Pearl.     The crew of The Pearl realize, they are no longer immortal and surrender themselves to The Royal Navy.   Back  at Port  Royal,  Norrington  is forced to hang Sparrow  but  Will believing him to be a decent enough man saves his life and inspired by  his sudden defiance and  confession of love, Elizabeth  rejects  Norrington's  proposal.   Will is then pardoned for his criminal act and  Jack escapes  falling into the ocean, only to be saved by the crew that he  had assembled that now  man The Pearl.   Norrington watches Jack escape and is  impressed enough to give the pirate, a head day's start.  And  that is  The Curse  of The Black Pearl.  My  thoughts,  this movie  shows that as long as you have a solid concept and treat it with respect and don't let references overtake the story,  ride to film adaptions can work and the big thing here is that the story is so well done, that it doesn't need the ride to rely on to be a good film.  



Plot  Device


The  Aztec  Gold  Medallion












This  be the most important  thing  in the entire film as Miss Swann had been holding on it for years and the haunted crew needs to lift the curse and the entire movie centered around this piece of Aztec gold.  I did like the twist  on how the pirates had to return the  location .


Ships


HMS  Interceptor





















The Interceptor was originally commandeered by James Norrington and he used it to track down and hunt pirates.   The ship would remain docked for years,  until  Elizabeth Swann was kidnapped  by  Barbossa  and his crew and Will entered a reluctant  partnership with Captain Jack Sparrow  to man The Interceptor and it be a fine ship.  A great ship but nothing compared to what  this film is all about.


The Black Pearl

















This is the ship that this film is all about.  The great  and awesome  Black Pearl.  Jack's original  ship and one of the only things, that he loved truly and it's not hard to see why as she be a great ship.  People at first don't believe her to exist but  with Barbossa manning and it the attack on Port Royal , that proves to be false  as it be very real and the ship itself became  as a big a star of the films as Jack Sparrow and it's presence was sorely missed in On Stranger Tides.   It just isn't  a Pirates movie without The Pearl.


Characters


Main  Characters


Captain Jack Sparrow played  by   Johnny  Depp




















Jack  Sparrow is a pirate through and through, he's  sneaky, cunning, and under-handed.   Everywhere he goes,  he's  made an enemy  and while  he not be a good person,  when his friends are in danger,  he will  save them  but make  on mistake,  Captain  Jack  is the first person,  Jack  Sparrow  will  protect.   I'd  honestly  argue  that  Jack  Sparrow  is  one  of Depp's  most iconic  characters  and in  a way,  his portrayal  of Sparrow  led  Disney  to casting  him  in so many  of their live action  films  such as  Alice  In Wonderland or The Lone Ranger,  not realizing  that Depp won't  work  in every  film but this was a great  role .      But Depp  wasn't  the first  choice  for the role, various  other actors were considered.  From Michael  Keaton  to  Bill Murray  to Robin Williams  to  Christopher Walken.   Someone  make a video  of the last  one.  Depp  has reportedly   stated  that he based   his portrayal   on  Keith  Richards  and  Pepe  Le  Pew ,  while   the writers  have   stated  that   they  took inspiration  from Bugs  Bunny.   Hmm,  I must  say that's  an interesting  mix  and  I don't if you people  remember  but  Depp was nominated for an Oscar  for  his  portrayal  of   Jack  Sparrow.    Sparrow  to me  has to be one  of  Depp's  best characters and perhaps the most tolerable from his Disney  filmography.   I despised his Hatter but  I'm not here to talk about that character and  I've never seen The Lone Ranger (But that may change for next year's summer event).


Will Turner  played Orlando Bloom














I know some fans are split  on Will Turner such as  Doug Walker saying that he was a boring character but I don't agree with that.  Will was meant to represent archetypical noble hero from  old  swashbuckling films.   Think  Errol Flynn type heroes.  A good and honest  man that  just happens to get entangled in a  pirate battle that is bigger than himself.  I like Will as he does a great job of playing off Will and in a way,  we see two very different men that lead two  very different lives  and couldn't  be  more  set apart in her views and beliefs.   Will is a good character  that I always enjoyed watching grow  through the  course of the movies.


Elizabeth  Swann played by Keria  Knightley














While  Will  may  have started out the noble hero  but ended up, a pirate.  Elizabeth Swann was never the damsel in distress.  Sure,  she  may have had a privileged upbringing  but her fascination with pirates from a young age helped her to survive  and while,  she may have  had her rough moments,  she is willing to fight for herself.



Supporting Characters 


Joshamee  Gibbs  played  by Kevin  McNally











Gibbs  is one  of my favorite characters from the film.  He  usually  gets some of the best lines  in the movie and his loyalty to Captain Jack  and to  The Pearl.  He seems  to be one of the few people that Sparrow  genuinely care about.  The bond  between  Jack  and Gibbs is strong and always  a pleasure to watch.


Governor Weatherby Swann played  by  Johnathan Pryce


     








Governor  Swann  is  a fine  character and  Johnathan Pryce  does a good job  playing him but  I don't  know,  I feel like he's the least interesting character in the film because everyone else is just more interesting  and  it was interesting to note that  he was dressed like  Hook from the animated film at the start of the film.


 














This  is a tend  that  still persists  today  as Once Upon A Time's   Blackbeard was dressed  like  Hook from the animated film  (and FYI ,  he was better than Ian  McShane).














I'll  be talking about this at a later date as a part of this event.     Yeah,  my Top 6 Hook Moments is about this Hook but that's for a later date.  (Hey,  Once is a Disney show)  Anyways back to Weatherby Swann,  I don't what else to really say about him.



Commodore  James  Norrington  played  by  Jack  Davenport


 











I don't know  what really to say  about Norrington.  He  seemed to be a standard  stock character in a love triangle that loved Elizabeth but she didn't love him and  had to go after the pirates as a part of his job.  Honestly,  I don't think he became interesting until the sequel.







Villains

Pintel  & Ragetti  played   by  Lee  Arenberg  &  Mackenize  Crook











Man,  these two are just  hilarious and always a highlight of the film, when they appear,  they always steal  every scene, they are in and  I think Lee Arenberg  as Pintel  is a blast to watch as it shows how versatile, an actor, he can be.  Because here,  he's  basically comic relief  that isn't the brightest but if you watch him as Grumpy on Once Upon A Time, you'd have no idea, that it was the same person.  Sure, they look the same, but  Arenberg  was able to make his character so distinct.  With Grumpy,  he is  bitter,  and angry  but  always there for his friends.  Watch the episode,  Dreamy to get  a taste  of  how good, a dramatic actor, Lee Arenberg  can be.  Though be warned, that is one of the saddest episodes of the show.  Here,   it  was just a blast watch  and Mackenize  Crook as these two, they are just so much fun.


Hector  Barbossa  played by   Geoffery  Rush












In my opinion,  Barbossa  was one of the best villains from any Disney film.  He was ruthless,  not afraid to kill and in a way, you could understand his plight as he wanted to lift the curse but the way,  he went about it was the way of a pirate.  He was truly cold-hearted and would stop at nothing to get what he wants.


My  Final  Thoughts

This  is a great film,  probably the best one in the series.   I really enjoy it and this shows that with a proper script and the right team and the right idea,  a film based on  a Disney ride can work.   Does  that mean every Disney ride should be turned into a film?  No, but  I still want a Figment and Dreamfinder movie.  Come on,  Disney that is screaming for a movie.   Back on topic,  this movie is just a lot of fun and I enjoyed going back to it again.  Join me tomorrow as I continue my trek through the Caribbean as I review Dead Man's Chest.



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