Disney spends doubloons well on new flick

In the first half hour of Walt Disney’s movie Pirates of the Caribbean, the audience is bound to notice how the film captures the adventure of Disney’s ride that is the inspiration behind the film.

Director Gore Verbinski has created all the ambiance, character, humor and implied quest that Disney intended when he added the ride to his park.

The film uses the ride’s trademarks, such as the bone-waving prisoners that entice the key-holding dog or drunks pouring booze into each others mouths. But these cute surprises are more than that,they are the reason this film is worthy of its title.

Orlando Bloom stars as Will Turner, a blacksmith who is unaware of the plundering nature of his family’s history.

Turner is in love with Keira Knightly’s character Elizabeth, the lovely daughter of the governor.

All is well on their small, English, colonial island until a vagabond pirate named Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), arrives on a sinking ship to begin the journey through the Caribbean.

The island comes under attack by undead scalawags led by the evil Captain Blackheart (Geoffrey Rush). The governess is then kidnapped, and Turner finds himself the disgusted partner to the thing he despises most — a pirate.

Though the film’s action and endearing qualities are valuable to its success, an award-worthy performance goes to Depp, who plays a character who is not good or evil — he just is.

Depp’s performance is heroic in the times of battle, sleazy in the company of other pirates, but more than anything else, it is genuinely humorous.

The character that was created for this film is similar to what one would think of an eye-patched Keith Richards crossed with a little of Depp’s performance as Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

He is the rebel of the film and the main interest to the audience.

While there is a wealth of praise for this movie, it is not perfect. Some of the jokes are over played to exhaustion, such as a pirate with a problematic glass eye that reoccurs too often in the film.

Also, while the running time is roughly more than two hours, it seems a bit too long. While it is definitely a fun experience, a shorter film time may have been better.

Pirates of the Caribbean is an experience that anyone who was wowed by the ride as a child will love.

Hollywood hasn’t seen a good pirate movie in eons, and this film is just the thing to renew an interest in the swashbuckling genre.