Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Unless you live it, it's hard to explain how unexpected the success of the original Pirates of the Caribbean film was. Here's a massive movie, based on a Disney World ride, with Johnny Depp, a former heartthrob turned indie movie darling, in the film's showiest role. And yet, The Curse of the Black Pearl wasn't just a hit, it became a phenomenon, especially once the film was released on DVD and home video. But after years of subpar sequels and disturbing revelations from Johnny Depp's personal life, you could be forgiven for thinking that audiences just wanted to see pirates in 2003. So today, we begin our mad dash through the Pirates series with the beloved original to see if it still holds up over a decade and a half later.

The movie follows Elizabeth Swann, a governor's daughter, and Will Turner, a blacksmith that was rescued from the jaws of death after a pirate attack in his childhood. Though unspoken passion remains between them, things come to a head when Elizabeth is taken by Pirates of the mysterious Black Pearl. Now to save his lady love, the upright Will will pair up with notorious pirate Jack Sparrow.

Despite how much life has been drawn out of this series from the sequels, the original movie remains an almost pitch-perfect distillation of swashbuckling adventure. It's big movie full of great characters, plenty of jokes, great action beats, and an undeniable sense of fun. So what's the glue that holds all of this together?

Simplicity

The Curse of the Black Pearl works as well as it does because it's plot is simple. Will wants to rescue Elizabeth and enlists Jack Sparrow's help. Sure there are inherent challenges presented by the undead pirates under Barbossa's command and the British forces hot on Jack and Will's tail, but the central goal is save the girl from the bad guy. Thus, all of the other exposition and mythology merely fleshes out the relationships between the characters or explains their motivations. It means that the audience remains invested in the outcome, without getting bogged down by backstory.

The Story Doesn't Center Around Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow may be the Black Pearl's best character, and yes when this first came out this was the boldest and most innovative take on a character you could imagine for a $100 million movie. But the reason Jack works so well in this film is because the story isn't about him or his motivations, it's about Will and Elizabeth. As such Sparrow is something of a delightful wild card whose motivations, actions, and competence are all up in the air. He's someone who saves Elizabeth from drowning, and then puts a gun to her head. Or perhaps he runs like he's on a balance beam from gunfire, only to best swordmaster Will in a duel. This mess of contradictions works best the less about his background that we know and when he can play off of situations and people, and this is the only film that does that.

The Movie Maintains A Sense of Humor

There are dramatic moments in this movie, but there aren't any moments dark or scary enough to bring down the film's energy. Every big action scene is full of comedic moments, Will's broody tendencies are consistently undercut by Jack's clowning, and even the scenes that will scare the children are punctuated by jokes. It's the action/adventure dynamic that so many self-serious movies, even this movie's sequels, fail to embrace.

Verdict: Less Fun in Retrospect But Still Good

While over-exposure may have soured some folks view of the original Pirates film, The Curse of the Black Pearl is a simple, polished, gem of a movie that remains entertaining..because that was it's only goal.