| Review |
Every once in a while a movie comes along that manages to renew the spirit of a genre that appeared to be dead and buried. A few years ago John McTiernan’s “The 13th Warrior” revivified the old Viking saga. Now, unexpectedly, the pirate adventure--which seemed to have been permanently dispatched by Renny Harlin’s disastrous “Cutthroat Island” (1995)--is brought back to cinematic life, and from a most unlikely source. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was inspired by a Disney amusement park ride--just like the dismal “The Country Bears” was last year. But against all expectations, in this case the process works. The movie is a giddily goofy bit of old-fashioned nonsense, a swashbuckler with supernatural overtones and a jolly sense of fun that keeps it surprisingly light on its feet even though its multiple climaxes cause it to go on a bit too long.
The script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (who wrote both “Aladdin” and “Shrek”) carries over some elements of the park attraction (a scene of some jailed pirates trying to attract the dog that carries the cell keys is the most obvious one). But together with Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert they’ve fashioned an elaborate scenario combining a cursed pirate treasure, youthful romance and a “Flying Dutchman”-style ghost ship. The story opens in Port Royal, where bewigged British Governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce) intends for his daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) to marry the stuffy, ambitious Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport). She, however, loves Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a humble blacksmith whom Norrington and the Swanns had saved from a shipwreck years earlier. Into this domestic imbroglio comes Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), a very peculiar pirate captain who aims at taking over one of the British ships for purposes of his own. He’s captured after a high-flying swordfight with Turner (far more enjoyable than the gymnastics in that bomb “The Musketeer”), but before he can be executed the port is attacked by the notorious Black Pearl, whose pirate crew devastate the town and carry Elizabeth off to their leader, the sneering Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Soon Sparrow and Turner have joined forces to go off after the Black Pearl and rescue Elizabeth, whom Barbossa and his men plan to employ as the means of freeing themselves from a terrible curse. The twists and turns of what follows are far too complicated to outline here (and it would take a good deal of the fun out of things to do so, anyway). Suffice it to say that they involve walking, half-decomposed cadavers, Spanish gold, some happy misidentifications, a disembodied hand that resembles a leftover from “The Beast With Five Fingers,” lots of comically-oriented swordplay and an equal amount of ghoulish slapstick. It sometimes seems that everything’s been thrown into the mix but the kitchen sink, but it’s all juggled so skillfully by the writers, director Gore Verbinski and an excellent cast that matters remain nicely clear and consistently jovial.
Apart from the writers, three contributors are central to the movie’s success. One is Verbinski, who proves remarkably adept in balancing the comic action with farcical spookiness. Another is Rush, who hams it up magisterially as the villainous Barbossa. But Depp outshines them both. He’s one of the few actors around who actually takes risks. That’s a dangerous trait which can invite disaster (remember “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas” or “Dead Man”), but when married to the right material it can bring amazing results--just think of his incredible performance in “Ed Wood.” Here he dives into the role of the oddball Sparrow with such gleeful, campy abandon that he makes the ridiculous almost sublime: it’s difficult to recall anyone who’s attempted so complete a collection of leers, winks, feints, grotesque grins and oddball line readings in recent years to such excellent effect. In terms of nautical tales Depp’s achievement is as amusing as Marlon Brando’s Fletcher Christian in the 1962 “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Of course, Depp’s performance is intended to be funny, so the comparison isn’t entirely apt.
The supporting cast can’t hold a candle to Depp and Rush, but they’re all perfectly competent. Bloom cuts a stalwart figure as the somewhat dull Turner and Knightley makes a suitably spunky damsel in distress, while Davenport and Pryce do their stiff-upper-lip shtick with professional aplomb. Character actors are sprinkled through the narrative, often in pairs, to good comic effect as well. Technically “Pirates” has all the slickness of a Jerry Bruckheimer production without the bombast; in Verbinski the producer has finally found a director who knows how to use the glitz palatably. Kudos also to the CGI wizards, who’ve kept their contribution amusingly cheesy; to production designer Brian Morris and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, who make everything look sumptuous, but slightly phony; and to composer Klaus Badelt, who contributes a sweeping, full-throated score.
It may be that today’s jaded audiences will fail to embrace “Pirates of the Caribbean,” just as they did last year’s amusingly retrograde version of “The Time Machine.” It could be the fate of this picture to suffer a fate similar to Roman Polanski’s “The Fearless Vampire Killers” (1967)--to be dismissed when released, only to be praised as a misunderstood gem years afterward. The advice from this quarter is not to wait. Enjoy this unexpected joyride of a movie now; it’s a hugely winning diversion, offering one of the best times you’re likely to have in a theatre this summer and featuring in Depp’s performance a true tour de force. |
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