Pirates of The Caribbean Review

The Curse of The Black Pearl film may have been the only Pirates of The Caribbean film I've seen so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much that it quickly made it to one of my favorite films list. Although I haven't seen the other films, I've read summaries for the others and saw part of Dead Man's Chest, I think I know enough about the series to give an overview on it :)

First off, I must explain why I loved COTBP so much. I'm not a big fan of pirates, but this one was just so different than what I've seen of other pirates. I wouldn't say the script is incredibly unique, but it does have a sort of intrigue that pulls you in. In the beginning, it looks like a tale of romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, whom can't be together because of social differences. After Elizabeth is captured, Will must turn to the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow (yes, he's always referred to as "Capt. Jack", or else he'll have a problem with you ;) to help save her. Seems pretty simple, right?

Except it's not. Because it turns out that the pirates who stole Elizabeth have been struck by a curse that forces them to turn into creepy skeletons in the moonlight, and they're undead. Oh yeah, and they need the blood of a Turner (like Will) in order to break the curse.

I love the whole adventure aspect of the film. Now, I like many genres, but adventure has always been my favorite. You can combine so many different genres inside--action, romance, drama, suspense, comedy--and all of these combined make a very exciting ride.

For me, though, Pirates wouldn't have been as great without its wonderful cast. Jack I'm sorry, *Captain* Jack Sparrow) is just awesome in so many that it's hard to describe him. Elizabeth is an awesome girl whom acts like a dignified royal but can kick your butt if she needs to. And even though Will isn't my favorite, he's got that noble hero thing going on, and he has his moments of shining, just like everyone else.

I'll get more in-depth into this in another article addressing my favorite characters, but the reason I love Jack so much is because he's just cool.  He's got so much swagger. The way he carries himself, so confidentially, is what makes him such an appealing character. And you can never trust his loyalties (they're always changing), so that makes him interesting as well. And well, Jack is just funny. Seriously, if you look up funny moments from POTC, I can tell you without a doubt Jack will be included in most of them :)

Elizabeth is really cool to me because of her independence. I love how spirited she is and how she's not afraid to speak her mind. I'm not a very passive person, so I always appreciate seeing others who are as strong-willled as I am (not to mention fiery ;) Oh, and unlike most of the leading ladies in films, Elizabeth isn't some damsel-in-distress. She negotiated her capture with the big baddy, Barbossa. And she can kick some major butt, which I always admire ;)

Will, while not up to the level of Jack and Elizabeth to me, is awesome in his own way. He's the good, noble hero who isn't exactly confident, at least in the first film, but his heart is in the right place. I am a bit of a romantic, but I really liked his love story with Elizabeth. Oh, and Will's whole backstory with his father being a pirate is also interesting. I love seeing heroes question their loyalty and who they are, because it makes them all the more interesting and fleshed out :)

Unfortunately, as much as I loved the first film, I can't say the same about the others. Even though I haven't seen all of Dead Man's Chest and beyond, I can't say I was intrigued from reading the summaries on Wikipedia :P

The story, I will admit, was a bit complicated in the first film. Elizabeth and Will's romance, Jack's solo story, the pirates and the curse...it's a bit of a handful. But it's okay with me, because the writers and directors pulled it off very well.

But I can't say the same about Dead Man's Chest or At World's E d. The reason I stopped watching it was because 1) the story was getting more confusing and hard to follow and 2) it was way too long for my liking (I think it's almost 3 hours? :O)

The story in DMC seemed to get more confusing, as I mentioned. Jack appears to owe a blood debt to Davy Jones, and he needs Will to help him, I think. And Will discovers that his dad is alive, but he's undead or something? It was just too confusing for me to keep up with. I still don't understand the whole blood debt thing. I'm sure it's not impossible, but I just think it could have been done in a more coherent way. And I don't understand why the film has to be 3 hours or so long. It felt like it was dragging on, unfortunately :/

And the same can be said about AWE. Jack is dead, or undead, I think, because, I think, he was sold to some ship or something, and Elizabeth and Will have to save him. I don't remember exactly, which just shows to me how confusing the plot has gotten. I know they had the whole undead deal in the first film, but here it just seems to feel more muddled. And, like DMC, I don't understand why the film is so long. I would think that it would start to drag on after awhile (that's how I felt about DMC).

As for On Stranger Tides, I missed that Will and Elizabeth weren't in end. It just became all about Jack. Now I love Jack, but I think he'd be better as the rogue character whom has his own little story but crosses over with the main leads. Not that Jack can't carry a film on his own, but by doing so it seemed like DMD was pushing Will and Elizabeth from their leading roles, and I loved all the main characters in POTC :/

But, nevertheless, I loved the first film. It was flawed, yes, but very adventurous, cool, and just plain fun. It made me reconsider my preconceived idea that pirates weren't that interesting. Also, the main characters are all fabulous, and, to me, having interesting characters is what makes a story of any kind great. So, if I ever get to watching the rest of the films and don't like it as much, I can always look to the characters for enjoyment--especially Jack ;)