July 28, 2003
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Much is being made of Johnny Depp's performance in this big-budget pirate movie, and every word of praise he is getting is deserved. He just exudes the perfect combination of depravity, feral grace, and self-imposed honorability for a pirate captain.
The movie's fun to watch even apart from Depp's Jack Sparrow, but the plot is too plodding and the pacing too jerky to let the movie be the masterpiece of light action fare it could have been. Geoffrey Rush is fun in his scenery chewing mode (and his teeth look like he's chewed a lot in this one!), and Orlando Bloom cuts a fine figure as the young man (and blacksmith and expert swordsman) with a grudge against pirates.
Keira Knightley is acceptable as the pretty governor's daughter Bloom pines over. I have to give credit to the writers for giving Knightley's character a bit more brains than is usual for this sort of part. Many of the strategic maneuvers are instigated by this character, but Knightley plays them more as if the girl is a natural strategist with excellent instincts. It would be nice to have seen it played more as the result of hard study and calculation on her part.
But why quibble about details? This is a perfectly good summer movie with cool effects, pretty people, and, hell, yes, excellent pirates.
Posted by jeffy at July 28, 2003 02:16 PM