'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' - Review

This is my favourite film of all time. That's right, you've heard correctly. A movie based on a Disney theme park attraction is my favourite movie ever made. I have seen this film more times than I can even count and I fall in love with it every single time I watch it. A bit of backstory first. I saw this film in the theatres when I was only 8-years-old and I will never forget it. Not only did I think that this film was one of the longest movies I have ever seen, but I also thought it was one of the scariest and most epic. I loved the swashbuckling adventure filled with sword fights and ship battles with cannons and pirates screaming "Yarg." I loved the romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, I thought Barbossa as the villain was so menacing and scary and of course, I absolutely fell in love with Jack Sparrow. As a kid, this was the biggest adventure I had ever experienced.

As the years went on, not only did I continue to enjoy this movie, I would notice more and more great moments and start to really dissect and appreciate the story even more. I then started to realize that this film was also a technical masterpiece too. The action sequences are a perfect blend of practical stunts with the sword fighting and the pirate ships mixed with the CGI skeleton pirates that still look pretty good today. On top of that, they are just a ton of fun to watch because of the great choreography, characterization during the action, and of course the Hans Zimmer score, which is one of my favourite film scores ever. The production design was also extremely well done, not only being faithful to the time period but also taking certain imagery from the ride. That is something I didn't really pay attention to as a kid, but after going to film school and seeing how much prep work goes into every level of production, I appreciate all the work that was put into the sets and the props and the costumes. They all look wonderful.

And of course, the story is so well told and so engaging. A big portion of that is the characters. All four of the main characters are cast perfectly. Orlando Bloom as Will Turner is the perfect everyday hero with a ton of charisma, Keira Knightley is a perfect balance between sophisticated and adventurous, Geoffrey Rush was born to play an evil pirate and you can tell that he is loving every minute that he is on screen, and Johnny Depp plays probably my favourite character in film history. I love that although he looks and sounds like a drunken fool, he is easily the smartest man in the room, but nobody knows it. You can really see the wheels in his head turning as he creates new plans on the fly to get himself out of sticky situations. I also love how his allegiance is always in question. You never know whose side Jack Sparrow is really on and it keeps you on edge throughout the entire movie which, of course, makes you want to keep watching.

So if any other movie had all those things like I mentioned earlier, it's a pretty safe bet that I would love the movie. However, what makes this movie so special in my eyes? Well, a couple things. One, I saw it at the perfect age. I was just starting to expand my horizons in terms of movies and I was just eager to see an epic adventure that was a bit more violent and frightening than your average Disney cartoon or any other movie I was watching at that time. Two, it has one of the best musical scores of all time. This is right up there with Star Wars. Whenever I hear that music, it makes me feel like a kid again pretending to play with swords and being a pirate. It's a shame that the sequels don't hold up to nearly the same standard as this one does. Each one has memorable fun moments in them, but they don't come close as being as fun and exciting as this movie. I have seen many movies in my lifetime, but to me, no movie captures both my imagination and holds up from a film student dissecting every little detail. This film, to me, is perfect in every way. My all-time favourite. Not too sure if a film will come along and top this, but this movie has held its title as my favourite movie for 15 years. Now that says something. If you haven't seen this movie, and look at this franchise as a big task to undertake, then let me say this. Ignore the sequels and watch this movie. I can't recommend it enough and it will always have a place in my heart.