Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
★★★
This review may contain spoilers.
Really this movie is just a lot of freaking fun, the action is at peak action, sword fights, ship fights an epic freaking score behind you as you watch it’s just freaking awesome, this movie does for pirates what jaws did for sharks lol.
Loved the score, I mean truly that is this films peak, the way the brass dances on top of the wind section is just impressive as all hell, the way you hear the wind instruments being plucked hard at points, like truly some impressive composition, I do feel maybe we hear the main theme just a tad more than necessary but that’s okay because it’s freaking awesome each time it plays it feels like we are going to war and we are going to triumph so hats off to the composer, hats off to the instrumentalists who do a phenomenal job.
I also really liked the fight choreography wow was it really good, the planning and timing that went into making sure that everyone knew what to do must have been insane, I mean you got sword fights and those take a lot of planning and preparedness but not only that you got people swinging for ropes jumping from ship to ship I mean it’s crazy amounts of action happening all at once and I can’t even imagine the planning and timing that went into this.
The makeup and hairstyling team did a great job as well, the make up on the skeletons looks great but the makeup on the people also looks great, it’s not just dirt there’s a punch of stuff on there faces, the yellow of the teeth I mean truly some great little details.
Same goes for the set dec team which also did a great job a period piece can be really hard to do because you have got to make everything but these sets are so big and flourished with design they look amazing, especially the pirate island location which is fused with so much love and care I assume.
And finally the acting, man does Johnny Depp do a great job in this role, I mean this is his role and pirates won’t be anywhere as good without him the charisma that he radiates through the screen is insane, the line are iconic I mean truly a stand out performance one can understand why he has done more than one of these because he just embodies the character so perfectly. As for Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly they do a pretty excellent job with the material given, I only wish there chemistry was a bit more believable, that you really felt them together as a couple I mean I know they aren’t a couple till the end but man does there banter kind of suck and I can’t tell if that’s just the dialogue or the acting and I thinks it’s the dialogue. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention favorite part of the film Geoffrey Rush who does such a great job, the humanization that his character gets only works because of how great his acting is, the way his character moves through a scene taking up all the spotlight is incredible.
This movie is also really long and while’s it’s really cool I feel maybe we could have gotten rid of like 20 ish minutes had a tighter more cohesive cut but who am I to judge I didn’t make the movie and maybe the director just wanted a long movie so ignore critics like me this is a definitely a recommendation if you haven’t seen it
notes below
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- I like the creepy opening, the slow camera, the fog, looks very cool.
- the sound track is really good, the plucking of the violin, the slow moving cello, it sounds great.
- cool match cut.
- like that we didn't get __ years later, we can just infer it's been a lot of time by the dust and how old the characters age.
- man when those trumpets start blaring the theme man.
- sparrow's introduction is nothing short of classic.
- like these underwater shots, the way the fish swam in front of the shot.
- when the soundtrack comes into full effect it's freaking miraculous, a true sight to be hold.
- also the set dec looks great, lot of grit and grimy found in these environments.
- same with the make up team, they did a great job with sparrow's wardrobe.
- like the sound design on the sword moving back and forth.
- this sword fight is so cool, the technic and footwork that must have gone into this is so dope.
- but sword fights will always be cool.
- this movie makes me want to play uncharted 4.
- I like that they chose a greenish light for nighttime, that is really nice adds to the spookiness
- the incredible coordination that these fight scenes must have taken is crazy, so much action is happening all at once.
- love smooth that transition was as the hand reached into the moonlight.
- I repeat, the soundtrack is amazing the way the brass section dances on top of the wind section is god damn good.
- the reveal of the curse to Elizabeth is pretty amazing
- I like that we learn about sparrow through other people.
- man this movie knows what we want from a pirate movie and it just really is giving us all of it, ship fights, sword fights, cool supernatural ghost pirates.
- this underwater shot is so cool.
- super cool how seamless the VFX are with them turning from skeletons to death.
- I kind of wish that he said I feel.. warm and not cold but I get why they went with cold, just personal preference here.
- but what a humanizing moment, we see this man get what he lusted after but at what cost, perfect way to wrap up his story.
