For me, Pirates of the Caribbean isn't just a good adventure movie, it's what helped define adventure to me in the first place. It had all these things that I didn't know I wanted, and I'll love it for that.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush
After discussing how Prince of Persia tried to launch an adventure franchise but failed, I wanna talk about Pirates of the Caribbean (the first entry) and how it successfully launched a franchise because it was so darn good.
The big difference between Prince and Pirates - because they both have the same sense of action, directing, music, costuming, pacing, and are produced by the same studios - is that Pirates mixed up the character dynamics. They really did something that was unusual with the Will Turner - Jack Sparrow - Elizabeth Swann trio. And like Prince it isn’t spinning its wheels, it feels like it’s actually trying to say something meaningful. But the difference is that while most characters in Prince were pretty interesting, the central duo of Prince and Princess were not. It was rom-com slap/kiss basic-ness. In contrast to Orlando Bloom’s pining or Elizabeth’s drama or Sparrow’s wild card energy, it feels pretty meh. Hence, Pirates succeeded and Prince did not.
Black Pearl is SUCH a good film, though. It’s only fault is that it’s a little long (2 and a half hours), but that’s not really a fault when the film is good. It does what so many films (including its own sequels) fail to do, which is have a silly-feeling tone, but take the characters’ struggles deadly seriously, and let them guide the plot where it needs to. A lot of funny things happen TO the characters, but they themselves never make light of their struggles. Jack Sparrow’s bravado, for example, is always about getting people distracted so he can get something from them. He’s not just practicing his tight five.
Will and Sparrow also embody that kind of Han and Luke duo that pops up in stories. They're two different stages of maturity; Will serving as the young ingenue (and therefore audience surrogate), and Sparrow as the cocky mentor who shows him the ropes. You add that in to Keira Knightley (whom I would argue is essentially living a Pride & Prejudice plot - "how do I rise above the unambitious goal of simply making a good marriage") and you have a plotline from each of them that dazzles by itself and electrifies with the others. Throw in the ham-tastic Captain Barbossa, and you end up with a knock-out story that frikkin' kills it.
Rewatch this scene - before he even reveals the curse, they foreshadow it with him watching her eat like he hasn't done it in ages
I could talk about it all day, but suffice it to say, go watch Pirates of the Caribbean. It's on Disney Plus. It's PG-13 - there's one horror scene and a few scary moments, but a very exciting tone otherwise. Worth it.
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