Pirates of the Caribbean Retrospective

It seemed like a huge gamble at the time, and Michael Eisner, head of Disney at the time, almost pulled the plug.  Pirates wouldn't be the first movie based on a ride.  Disney had released The Country Bears starring Haley Joel Osment which had performed poorly.  Add to that the huge budget and the poor showing of modern pirate movies, and Disney was taking a big risk.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) teams up the odd pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), to rescue the love of his life Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightly) from a band of pirates.  These pirates happen to be Jack's former crew who mutinied on him and stole his ship.  Jack wants to get his ship back.  The pirates, under the lead of Jack's former first mate, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) are under a curse and undead, so getting the ship back will be no easy task.  Swashbuckling adventure, awesome action scenes, a fun script and stellar performances from the stars make this movie one of the better summer blockbusters.  Of course, the movie relies heavily on the performance of Johnny Depp.  His unique take on Sparrow which he based heavily on Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones provides much of the humor.  Disney execs evidently didn't like his take on Sparrow initially.  Eisner claimed he was ruining the film.  Depp reportedly replied. "Look, these are the choices I made.  You know my work.  Either trust me or give me the boot."  The movie ended up being nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nod for Depp.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - With the huge success of the first movie, a sequel was inevitable.  What we got was a sprawling story that encompassed two movies shot back-to-back.  Dead Man's Chest followed our three leads as they go in search of Davy Jone's Locker, each for their own reason.  Jack needs it to spare him from having to join Davy Jones (Bill Nighy's crew), Will wants it to save his father from servitude aboard The Flying Dutchman, and Elizabeth needs it to secure a pardon for Will for his crime in helping Jack escape in the first movie.  Along the way, we meet Tia Dalma, a voodoo priestess who helps them locate Davy Jones and a giant Kraken who serves Davy Jones, hunting down people who owe him a blood oath (namely Jack).  This movie relied far more on special effects than the first film with almost every shot having some sort of CGI in it.  It also lacked a cohesive plot and leaves the film (and Jack) in limbo with the next picture coming out six months later.  The movie, however, was a box office smash.  It set all kinds of records here in the States, although most of them would be broken by The Dark Knight in 2008.  Worldwide, it became only the third film to break the $1 billion dollar mark, and it currently is the 4th highest grossing film in the world, only beaten by Avatar, Titanic, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King respectively (domestically it is the 8th highest grossing film).  The film was nominated for four Academy Awards (all tech awards), winning for Best Visual Effects.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - The not-so-suspenseful cliffhanger ending of the second film is the driving force of this movie.  Aided by Captain Barbossa and Tia Dalma, Will and Elizabeth set out to rescue Jack and stop Davy Jones once and for all.  This movie, while story-wise is probably the weakest, has some amazing battle sequences - particularly the sequence when the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman face off in the middle of a maelstrom.  Depp is in great form, and we get an appearance by Keith Richard as Jack's father.  I had forgotten how the first movie ended, setting up the plot involving the Fountain of Youth that is the focus of On Stranger Tides.  Although the movie didn't perform as well as 2nd film at the box office, it was still the number one movie worldwide in 2007.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are the perfect summer popcorn films.  Action and humor abound to create entertaining movies that not only honor the ride the movies are based on, but add to the story.  The movies are almost perfect combinations of classic pirate movies from the Golden Age of Cinema and more modern special effects driven films.  Depp has single-handedly created an iconic character that will long be remembered.