I haven’t yet written a review of Pirates of the Caribbean, but since I’m seeing the sequel tonight, I thought it would appropriate to offer my thoughts on the first movie, subtitled The Curse of the Black Pearl. As a huge fan on Disneyland in general, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride specifically, I thought it was a horrible idea to make a movie adaptation of the ride. I scoffed at the movie poster when I walked by it on the way to work, and I expounded at great length to anyone who would listen that making a two-hour movie that was very loosely based on such a fantastic ride was a worthless proposition. However, since I am such a big fan of the ride, I would often say, half-jokingly, “I either need to see the movie opening night, or never see it at all.”
I didn’t see the movie opening night, or the next week, or the week after that. After maybe a month had gone by, and the glowing reviews kept pouring in, curiosity got the better of me and I went to see it late one Saturday night. As it turns out, I was right: I should have seen it opening day.
When making a movie adaptation from other source material, either television shows, video games, or even theme park rides, there are two main problems that usually ruin the film: either taking the source material too seriously, or not taking it seriously enough. You have your tongue-in-cheek adaptations like A Very Brady Movie or Starsky & Hutch that choose to poke fun at the original, downplaying it as kitschy or comical, and thus alienating their potential audience who loved the originals. Or you have adaptations that try to reinvent the story and play it deadly serious (comic-book movies are notorious for this), taking all the fun out of the story and ignoring everything that made the original so good. But from the opening shot of Pirates of the Caribbean, I knew that the creators had struck a perfect balance between respect and fun.
The movie opens with a ship, enshrouded in mist, sailing through what appear to be dangerous waters. On the bow is a little girl, singing “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life For Me” in a melancholy voice. In that one moment, you see a movie that is playing the story straight, but still gives a nod to the audience by making a reference that fans of the ride would appreciate, without ruining the tone of the story. Several other homages are interspersed throughout, and it is amazing how well the events of the movie are matched to the ride. Even the main plot fits perfectly with the vague narration from the ride, which tells of an evil curse that strikes “the greedy beholders of this bewitched treasure.” But again, in each case the reference works with the film, instead of jarring the viewer and taking them out of the story.
The importance of Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow can not be overemphasized. In thinking about how to portray his character, he hit upon the idea of pirates as the rock stars of 14th century. Thus, his behavior and speech patterns borrow heavily from Keith Richards. Sparrow comes off as cocky, slightly tipsy, yet inexplicably charismatic. But most of all, and fitting with the rest of the movie, he is always slightly bemused. He just appears to be having fun.
Visually, the film is stunning. The action setpieces never seem forced, yet seem to come up relatively frequently. But the most ingenious visual element is the skeletal pirate crew. Perhaps as a nod to the pirate skeletons in the ride, the cursed pirates of the film appear normal in ordinary light, but appear as ghastly skeletons in moonlight. This leads to many of the most interesting visual moments of the film, as characters are partially or full bathed in moonlight at key moments. Later in the film, this illusion is even used as a key plot device, once again very cleverly.
In short, Pirates of the Caribbean works simply because it is fun. Sure, it is a big, blustery epic action movie full of action sequences and high drama and plenty of pirates. But more than that, the characters seem to be enjoying their predicaments, without degenerating into actors winking at the camera and mocking themselves. This is a movie that aspires to be a theme park attraction, and in that, it succeeds beyond anyone’s expectations, especially mine.
