The Black Pearl

I don’t know when I saw a pirate movie last (besides Disney’s Treasure Planet, of course) — it might have been Geena Davis in Cutthroat Island (wow! was that really eight years ago???). Pirate films have been out of style for quite a while, it seems. Now we have a new one, from the unholy team of Walt Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer — based, supposedly, on the popular Disneyland ride, believe it or not! And, IMHO, the result is actually not half bad.

The ship carrying Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and his daughter Elizabeth to his new gubernatorial posting in Port Royal comes across the wreck of a ship that has just been destroyed by pirates; the only survivor is young Will Turner, from whose neck Elizabeth salvages an ancient gold medallion (presumably to prevent the rest of the crew from supposing that Will is a pirate). Jump ten or so years into the future; Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) is a grown woman, Will (Orlando Bloom, latterly Legolas the Elf) is a blacksmith’s apprentice. At this point, notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) comes sailing into port — and when you see his arrival, you will suddenly realize that this film is not intended to be taken 100% seriously. Elizabeth, rendered unconscious by an over-tight corset, falls into the sea and is rescued by Sparrow, who is then recognized and imprisoned; and then the pirate ship Black Pearl appears on the scene, reducing Port Royal halfway to rubble ⁽¹⁾ before it sails off carrying Elizabeth — and the medallion. Will and Sparrow join forces to steal, hijack or “commandeer” a royal frigate, collect a crew in the Tortugas, and then sail after the Black Pearl, which was once Sparrow’s ship — before he was marooned by a mutinous crew which then went on to get itself put under an ancient Aztec curse — to rescue Elizabeth.

The film has, in my opinion, an interesting mixture of adventure and comedy. The special effects showing the Black Pearl pirates morphing as they move into and out of moonlight are not terribly spectacular until we get to the swordfight near the end, when they move in and out of moonlight a dozen times a minute. The sea chase and battle between the Black Pearl and the Interceptor was quite well done. One may wonder what finally became of the damned monkey. (Adjective chosen with malice aforethought.)

Keira Knightley is an actress to watch, in my opinion. Bombastic pirate music was by Klaus Badelt, another composer to watch (he did the theme and background music for The Time Machine, IMHO one of the best recent scores).

Again, if you don’t take it seriously, you can really enjoy this film.