There are few roles in which I like
Johnny Depp, but every time he plays an off-beat character, I really
enjoy his performance. The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl is one such occasion.
Here
Depp stars as Jack Sparrow, the famous pirate captain of the Black
Pearl who was abandoned on an island by his first mate Barbossa
(Geoffrey Rush). Through luck, Jack manages to survive and ends up on
Port Royal in the Caribbean where he encounters an ongoing soap opera
featuring Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) the governor's daughter; Will
Turner (Orlando Bloom), the son of a former pirate but taken in by the
governor, and Norrington (Jack Davenport), the commander in charge of
the armed forces on the island who is set to marry the governor's
daughter. Jack not only has to deal with the governor and the commander
who consider him a thieving pirate, but also with Barbossa and his crew
who have now acquired the infamous curse of the Black Pearl.
One
of the best aspects of the film is Depp's walk, which people say I
mimicked when I was in Thailand and handed a drink which I just took a
sip from but made me feel really woozy (there are stories of people
drugging foreigners to take their money but fortunately I was with
friends). It completely dominates the film. There's also a clever, but
predictable, way out of the situation that Jack ends up being thrust in
(namely, how does one kill things that can't die). In general the movie
is characterised by situations where at first Jack appears to be doing
something stupid but in reality is doing something very smart. This
leads to some comic relief.
The
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a
surprisingly good movie, much better than I expected. I highly recommend
checking it out on the big screen.
