Movie Review by EDF
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy
Director: Gore Verbinski
In 2003 when the first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie was initially released, not a lot of people gave the movie much thought about it as it was based on a Disney park ride. It eventually became a summer blockbuster and a real crowd pleaser. Even though the first movie followed the adventures of three characters, the one that captured everyone’s imagination was of course Jack Sparrow. Fans of Johnny Depp’s character will be glad to know that the second and third episodes, which were shot back to back, feature more of Jack, along with some familiar faces from the first movie.
The new captain of the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow remembers that he owes a blood debt to Davey Jones (Bill Nighy), Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman, who must serve on his crew eternally. With Jones closing in on Captain Jack, Jack must find the treasure chest containing Jones’s still beating heart. Both Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) find themselves in the midst of this when they are captured by the pirate hunter Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company. Beckett intends to find the Dead Man’s Chest in order to use its powers to destroy every last Pirate. Will is sent to capture Jack’s compass which will lead to the chest while Elizabeth manages to escape her captors and sets off to find Will and Jack.
While I do not want to reveal any more of the storyline or plot, for a movie with the running time of 150 minutes, time passes by very quickly. The first hour of the movie is a somewhat familiar mix of high adventure and humour that we all loved from the first movie. However, there is something else. The set pieces are so mind boggling complex that you come to realise that the PIRATES trilogy has a lot in common with the two classic 1980’s trilogies, INDIANA JONES and BACK TO THE FUTURE. Each BACK TO THE FUTURE episode had a different feel and setting for each episode and INDIANA JONES had fantastic set pieces and always looked like it was a lot of fun as well. Adventure is the order of the day and you will not leave the cinema disappointed.
Of course, we must mention some of the supporting characters for without them the movie would not be complete. Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann is a bit more feisty and ready to use any method necessary to get her way. Bloom’s Will Turner is a lot more daring and focused and will do anything to reunite with Elizabeth. While there have been rumours that the second movie ends on a cliffhanger, my personal view of the ending is one of “Empire” sized proportion and then some. Sail on PIRATES 3.
