Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

A lot of anticipation preceded the release of Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: The curse of the black pearl, and it didn't disappoint. This swashbuckling tale of loveable rouge Captain Jack Sparrow, played by the talented Johnny Depp, saw him and unlikely compatriot Will Turner (Orland Bloom), a local blacksmith voyage across the seas to save the captured Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley). The stand out character has to be Jack Sparrow, Depp manages to portray both a bumbling, seemingly constantly intoxicated fool, and a multi-talented genius, who can think on his feet and always manages to squirm his way out of hot water. The eccentric Captain Sparrow injects the element of fun that the film promises, and for younger viewers, he is what glues their eyes to the screen with his quirky personality.

The writers didn't forget to tick the romance box either, as the film largely revolves around the some what forbidden love between Elizabeth Swann, the Governor's daughter and Will Turner, who has no place in the upper class hierarchy. viewers are left on the edge of their seat throughout, wondering whether the pair will end up in each other's arms, a brilliant piece of cinema, which doesn't overshadow the rest of the plot, thereby rendering the piece a bore to those who don't buy in to soppy love stories.

viewers feel a huge sense of adventure when watching the characters travel across the seven seas; Captain Barboza (Geoffrey Rush) and his cursed crew fill the audience with peril when they see some of the excellent special effects which unveil the rotting flesh and exposed skeletons of the very much alive pirates, as the visuals achieve the perfect formula of spooky without being gory, so that the film can still be enjoyed by the whole family.

The only dampener on this captivating epic is the arguably anticlimactic ending, without spoiling the conclusion of this 143 minute feature, I will only say that the writers may have used all of their imagination when constructing the body of this film by the time they reached its climax. however the movie is filled with laughs, adventure and suspense, and is a thoroughly enjoyable watch.