I can resist everything except temptation - Oscar Wilde and Me
I can resist everything except temptation - Oscar Wilde and Me
Member since:02.05.2002
Reviews:59
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I’ve been silent for a while, but a sight I witnessed last night has prompted me to speak out - and that sight was Orlando Bloom in breeches.
I heard about Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl (or PoC from here on in) ages ago in Empire magazine – mainly because they seem to have almost as much of a thing for Orlando Bloom as I do. There was much raving about how fabulous it was going to be – a visual feast and aural spectacular based on an, admittedly not good, Disney Land ride. Bit of an odd one that – basing an entire film on an amusement park ride – normally the other way round methinks?
Anyway, being intrigued as to what would be made of the concept, and not at all by the fact that it’s two leading men are two of the most fanciable blokes in modern history, I tootled along to the lovely big screen at Warner Brothers at York.
So what do we have? We have the very beautiful Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, daughter of the local Governor (Jonathan Pryce) and intended of the not quite dastardly Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport) but secret love of Will Turner, a master blacksmith (Orlando Bloom, mmmmm, oh sorry - sidetracked).
On the voyage from
England to Port Royal in the Caribbean Norrington pulls aboard a shipwrecked boy and only young Elizabeth spots the interesting (and somewhat tacky) gold trinket around his neck – pocketing it like the little tea-leaf she clearly is.
Cut forward to not too many years later (but enough to make our leading characters very good looking) and Elizabeth, fancying the gold foil covered chocolate look, goes for a walk with C. Norrington wearing the necklace and promptly falls from a very great height into the sea. Silly girl. She is rescued by the camp, extravagant and slightly unsteady on his feet Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who is promptly sentenced to death by Norrington for being a pirate. Ohhh well, these things happen.
We have a problem as the salt water seems to have had a nasty affect on the necklace and the fabled ship The Black Pearl weighs anchor in the bay, launching an attack on the peaceful town.
Is there really a curse on the Black Pearl (of course there is) and will it be lifted? Do we think loves young dream in the form of Will and Elizabeth will get it on (c'mon this is Disney!) - You'll have to watch what follows.
And what follows now is a whirlwind from start to finish: pirates and swordfights and skeletons and daring escapes.
The comedy is mainly provided by Jack Sparrow. He’s funny, over the top and very theatrical, providing light relief also with his slightly confusing English accent which seems to be from Liverpool via Scotland and taking a quick detour through the East End. I think it’s safe to say, as many have, that Johnny Depp steals what is already a very good show – though I find he always does anyway. His support is strong, with Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, a man with a very dark, or even moonlit, secret. Barbossa is played very ‘piraty’ – malevolent, leering and wicked, to great effect, especially the special ones, which to my mind are extremely effective and not overused.
It’s directed by Gore Verbinski, of the Ring and Mousehunt ‘fame’, but then has the backing of Jerry Bruckheimer’s production team – and everything they touch seems to turn to gold and the Disney monopoly has a hand in there too – but luckily this isn’t obvious.
There is cheese: lots of swaggering rum drinking pirates, not least Jack Sparrow; feisty heroines; and trunks of golden treasure, but I feel this works in the bright Hollywood summer blockbuster styleee, where, shameful as it may be to admit it – they’re somewhat more enjoyable if we sacrifice a little substance for extra style.
This is generally family friendly – I don’t remember any rude words and the only ‘sexually explicit’ bit is a tongue free snog right at the end – unless you count Elizabeth’s slightly chilled façade after her dip in the sea. Though, as a warning, this film is a 12 and I certainly wouldn’t recommend treating it as a 12a and sneaking the wee ones in. As I say, the special effects are successful and as such are more than a little creepy and even scary in places. You can visit the official website here: http://pirates.movies.go.com/main_site/main.html for some indication of this.
As a summary: I feel this film works superbly; it’s funny, has pots of action and, luckily, doesn’t bother with too much sentiment or schmaltz.
Strong points: Definitely Johnny Depp’s quipping archetypal drunken sailor, Jonathan Pryce also as Elizabeth’s cowardly but loving father and MacKenzie Crook as the cross-dressing wooden eyed Ragetti – nuts and loving it.
Weaker points: While there are no completely weak parts I felt Jack Davenport, while I rate him immensely as an actor, wasn’t the right choice for Commodore Norrington. I would have liked someone you could have really hated – slimy and corpulent. While Norrington was clearly supposed to be a good few years older than Elizabeth he didn’t look it – and he was also generally rather a nice man. I think if you’re going to go for cheesy hammyness that is one place where it definitely sits well – think the Duke in Moulin Rouge.
So anyway, despite the slight niggle, I think this film is fantastic and in my eyes, one of the few that lives up to the hype. Go see.
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Aug 26th, 2003
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