Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a fantasy
tale set at Port Royal, Jamaica, a seventeenth century
fortress in the Caribbean (though actually filmed at St.
Vincent), directed by Gore Verbinski. There is no native
or slave population, just pompous British and mangy pirates.
Caribbean pirates are featured as a videogame and as a
Disney World ride, so expectations ride high about the
film. Early in the movie, two conflicts are identified.
One is a love triangle involving Elizabeth Swann (played
by Keira Knightley), the daughter of the Governor of the
colony, Weatherby Swann (played by Jonathan Pryce). Although
the Governor expects her to marry blueblood Commander Norrington
(played by Jack Davenport), who commands the colony's garrison,
her best male friend from childhood is Will Turner (played
by Orlando Bloom), a mere blacksmith who forges swords
for the troops. The second conflict involves Captain Jack
Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), who commanded the Black
Pearl pirate ship until a mutiny led by Barbossa Swann
(played by Geoffrey Rush). Barbossa forced him to exile
on a small, barren island with only a revolver, a bullet,
his outrageous pirate garb, and plenty of black mascara,
knowing that he would suffer brain damage. One day, as
Elizabeth is about to be betrothed to Norrington, Captain
Sparrow shows up in port alone. When she accidentally falls
into the sea, he rescues her, but when he reappears on
land, he is identified as a pirate, is captured, and is
sentenced to death; but soon he escapes via acrobatic moves
reminiscent of Jacky Chan's choreography (a feat repeated
much later when he again escapes the gallows). In time,
the mutinous Black Pearl crew arrives to ravage the port,
and battles ensue back and forth for much of an overlong
film. When the pirates kidnap Elizabeth, Will Turner engages
Sparrow to rescue her while the Royal Navy clumsily attempts
the same feat. As for the curse mentioned in the title,
the mutinous crew turns into skeletons at night, though
somehow the Royal Navy ultimately defeats them in the daytime
after battling all night nonstop. There is no doubt that
the two conflicts will be resolved happily, thanks to formulaic
scenes, cartoonish characters, and surreal swordplay. MH
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