A Pirate’s Life

21 July 2003

Pirates of the Caribbean wasn’t on my list of movies to see until I read what a few others were saying about it. Now I can’t recommend it enough. This movie is an excellent 2.5 hours of pure escapism. Great sets, intriguing cinematography, fun characters, and a downright entertaining story. A good blend of action, humor, and a small dose of Disney-esque romance. As [Capt’n!] Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp gives us another brilliant performance, holding the audience with his charm and swagger throughout the film’s entirety. He continues to impress me with his wide range of ability and the consistently strong characters of his recent career. And need I say what nice visuals Keira Knightley adds to this film?

Without giving anything away, my favorite parts of this movie were the over-obvious tie-ins with Disney’s original ride. Anyone who remembers even a portion of the scenes which float by are bound to have a few chuckles over the way they’re cleverly integrated into the movie. The pirates’ movements in and out of moonlight make for nicely added effects which I don’t remember the ride revealing. (Note: The film is rated PG-13 for a reason: the pirates’ true identity and their violence may give small children nightmares, so think twice if ye have little ones.)

Aside from a few lengthy sword fights, I can’t think of any reason not to say: you should run, not walk, to your nearest theater and see this movie as soon as possible. If you’re not rambling out loud when you walk out of the theater, you’ll at least be mumbling to yourself like a pirate, and hopefully you’ll have had as good a time as I did.

Posted at 8:44am in Entertainment

31 comments (Comments closed)

1. At 9:31am on 21 jul 2003, paul wrote:

i’m now positive that depp is many people.

no one actor can have the range he does: from mr scissorhands, to chocolat, to fear and loathing and now to this. he even pulls off wearing lots of make-up without seeming fruity.

2. At 9:46am on 21 jul 2003, Doug wrote:

Paul: I agree. Outside of Rob Zombie and the goth/metal scene, I never thought a guy could look cool wearing that much black mascara.

And don’t forget his other greats: From Hell, Blow, Sleepy Hollow, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, and Benny & Joon… The man just turned 40 last month, and shows no signs of stopping.

3. At 10:12am on 21 jul 2003, Keith wrote:

Haha…Yeah man, I’m right there with you - the movie rocked. I went down for a second viewing this weekend (which I never do) so the girlfriend could take a butchers - she loved it, now has a huge crush on Depp and I had almost as fun the second time around.

My all time favorite Disney ride is now my favorite movie.

Oh and Keira does add some really nice visuals. ;)

4. At 10:37am on 21 jul 2003, Sunny wrote:

yeah, that was my favorite ride at Disneyland too.

The movie rocks and is surely a perfect summer movie. Depp, as usual, is brilliant, on par with his awesome performance in Sleepy Hollow.

5. At 11:19am on 21 jul 2003, Paul Scrivens wrote:

Keira…Knightley…nuff…said

6. At 11:59am on 21 jul 2003, Brian Peddle wrote:

Donnie Brasco is the best mafia movie, Depp is amazing in that.

7. At 1:15pm on 21 jul 2003, Simon Jessey wrote:

I completely agree with you. Pirates of the Caribbean was a thoroughly enjoyable flick that delivered exactly what I hope it would. Depp and Rush were superb, and the SFX sequences involving the crew of the Black Pearl were very clever.

There are so many good movies out there at the moment.

8. At 2:10pm on 21 jul 2003, Lea wrote:

How do I love this movie? Let me count the ways. It was everything it promised to be and more — that’s why I loved it. Going into it with little expectations but rousing word-of-mouth, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. I hoped it would be as good as people said — but it was better.

And Johnny Depp… Only he could make a guy with several gold teeth in his mouth and eyeliner the new sexy thing. ;)

9. At 4:00pm on 21 jul 2003, Lu wrote:

Other pirate moments i recollect from my childhood - reading Treasure Island for a book report (okay I read the cover), playing this great game named Pirates!, loving that sappy funny movie, Princess Bride - i have to check this out.

10. At 5:18pm on 21 jul 2003, Will wrote:

Doug, I completely agree with your review. I loved it, and I’m going to see it again tomorrow night. I haven’t seen a movie twice in the theatres since Matrix: Revolutions, and that was because I needed a second screening to understand what was going on with the Architect.

That being said, I saw many similarities between Depp’s portrayal of Cap’n Jack Sparrow and Hunter S. Thompson. The finger movements, cartoonish facial movements, guttural voicing and weaving while talking. Aw heck, watch the two in the same day and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m not complaining, I think he stretched as much mileage out of that character as possible, I just don’t want to see him get typecast as the burnout rummie/druggie. But I guess that’s his agent’s job to solve.

11. At 12:16am on 22 jul 2003, Leif wrote:

Alright, So I heard it was good. But that was by a bunch of girls who followed up their expert reviews with “And the guys, omg, they are sooo hot.” So of course I quickly put the movie to the end of my list. But if a guy says that its good, and a bunch of people agree with him, then i’m more inclined to see it. So tomorrow night i’m going to see it with my g/f. Hopefully she wont mind seeing it for a second time.

12. At 1:01am on 22 jul 2003, Ryan C. wrote:

Ahh.. this brings back memories of a couple trips to Disneyland nearly a decade ago.. :)

I hadn’t initially planned to see this movie, but from all the positive feedback is twisting my arm!

13. At 8:24am on 22 jul 2003, Peter wrote:

Will, I think you mean Matrix: Reloaded ;)

I haven’t seen this movie yet, but it’s been on my list since the first preview I saw — glad to see it’s being received well.

14. At 9:56am on 22 jul 2003, Juan wrote:

Summer is usually plagued with bad movies, but this one was able to rise out of the muck. Johnny Depp is awesome. I was talking like a pirate for the rest of the night.

I am a little worried about the Haunted Mansion though. They showed the trailer for it when I went and it seemed kind of half baked.

15. At 12:06pm on 22 jul 2003, Rob wrote:

Agreed, Pirates was great fun at the movies!

I think your last paragraph is a little weird, Doug. You said (paraphrasing) “I can’t think of any reason why you should run to this movie.” I think you left out a n’t in there somewhere. :)

16. At 12:27pm on 22 jul 2003, Doug wrote:

Rob: Fixed. I can’t think of any reason not to say: you should run, not walk, to your nearest theater and see this movie as soon as possible.

17. At 6:40am on 23 jul 2003, Stephen wrote:

I would like to second, third, fourth the motion to run, not walk, to go see this movie. Though, I have to say that I went into this movie with absolutely no expectations. If I had any expectations I might have been severely disappointed with the ending. Without the expectations the movie gets an A, and the ending a B (imho).

After having time to think about it, I really think that an ending similar to the ending of Nate & Hayes would have made this movie an A+++. And just to clarify when I say “ending”, I am refering to the last couple of minutes of cheesy dialog on the fortress wall.

18. At 9:35pm on 23 jul 2003, Tarsh Fletcher wrote:

It’s not even out here in Australia.

19. At 11:39pm on 23 jul 2003, Buzz wrote:

Tim Burton once referred to Depp as a character actor trapped in a matinee idol’s body.

I haven’t seen the movie, but when I saw he trailer, I said to my wife that it looks like Depp really went with the broad strokes, literally (or is that littorally?) and figuratively. That alone is enough to recommend it for me. And the hagiography here helps, too. Bzz

20. At 7:27am on 24 jul 2003, Sunny wrote:

More than the Keira Knightley factor, I am sure you guys are waiting for “Cradle of Life”. Can’t wait for Angelina Jolie!

21. At 8:02am on 24 jul 2003, prawnFresh wrote:

I’d have to disagree with Doug (Post #2) From Hell was a poor movie which I believe Depp didn’t put much effort in. It was mainly let down by the bad English accents, oh and Heather Grahams awful acting.

However Depp is a true master (Fear & Loathing shows this) so as soon as it’s showing in the UK, I’ll go and see it!

22. At 11:26am on 24 jul 2003, D wrote:

Two comments:

Depp is 40!?

And while Depp was amazing in the movie, credit must also go to Rush, who was equally as brilliant as a Pirate.

23. At 3:45pm on 28 jul 2003, Chris M. Cooper wrote:

Ever since I saw the previews like a year ago, I maintained that the movie was going to suck. I’ve been a bit apathetic about movies for awhile. But I went to see Pirates on opening night and was thoroughly surprised and impressed that it was the best movie of the summer. And I have seen every single movie so far this summer. However, I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that Orlando Bloom did a good job playing his character, and his acrobatic abilities are quite impressive between Pirates and Lord Of The Ring.

Finally, lets not forget that September 7th, or 9th, or some other day in September is National Talk Like A Pirate Day! ARRRG!

24. At 4:34pm on 28 jul 2003, Doug wrote:

Talk Like a Pirate Day — September 19. Get all yer booty and treasure ahead of time…

25. At 9:03pm on 28 jul 2003, Jason wrote:

I’ve lost track of how many TV shows Hollywood has repackaged for the big screen, and my failing memory is directly related to the forgetfulness of most of their attempts. Perhaps having grown tired of the TV genre, Hollywood also ventured into cinefying video games — giving us the wonderful cinematic treasures of Mortal Combat, Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider.

Given tinsel town’s track record thus far, I didn’t hold too high of an expectation for a movie made from a theme park ride — albeit a damn good ride. And given what Disney did to that ride to make it politically correct, I could only imagine what they would do to the movie. What with the audacity they had to change the guys chasing wenches for wenches sake, to guys chasing wenches for food.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Disney did a fantastic job with Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush were superb, and would have completely stolen the show had it not been for solid performances from Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Hats off to Disney. They could have made a second rate film, expecting to make money soley based on the appeal and nostalgia of the ride.

Adding to my Pirates watching pleasure, I attended the special screening at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, where they decked out the entire theatre in pirate bootie. The giant Wurlitzer organ set the pre-movie mood as an incredibly skilled pirate organist churned out music made famous by the most beloved of Disney rides. It’s an overstatement when used to described the majority of films these days, but for Pirates of the Caribbean, I can definitely say “That’s entertainment.”

26. At 3:18am on 30 jul 2003, Jesper wrote:

Okay, off-topic, but is it just me or did the “Such is life” tagline just change from bold to italic?

I pay way too much attention to details.

On-topic: Arr, har har har. Pirates arre good.

27. At 5:51pm on 30 jul 2003, Doug wrote:

Jesper: The tagline/descriptions on each page did change — good eye. Slivers of a good-size addition I’m about to add to the site are starting to show through, and will continue to do so until I push everything live at once.

28. At 11:49am on 31 jul 2003, Jesper wrote:

:) Will there be new content, adjustment to the layout or a new layout? I’m guessing the middle and additionally hoping for the former.

29. At 7:32pm on 31 jul 2003, Doug wrote:

I’m creating this comment from a Samsung I-330 smart phone @ Firecracker in the mission. Way cool to see this work on such a small screen. If I could remember my url to access MT through cgiwrap, I’d create a new entry — but a comment will have to do for now.

30. At 8:21am on 2 aug 2003, Rex wrote: