Aside from a few classic cheesy Disney moments where Elizabeth Swann could fall from the top of a castle into the sea with many sharp rocks and come out totally unharmed, this 143-minute film is packed with action, humour and even contains touches of sweet, romantic moments.
As for the plot, congrats to Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio who manage to create a fascinating PG-13 story that is far from boring or unoriginal. The story follows the rescue of Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) from a cursed ship called the Black Pearl by the crazy Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) and Elizabeth’s secret admirer, Will Turner (Bloom), the earnest blacksmith who descended from a pirate father, affectionately known as Bootstrap. The film begins with a flashback of young Elizabeth rescuing Will and taking his medallion, in fear of him being a pirate. However, when Elizabeth Swann is all grown up and looking gorgeous, a full crew of bloodthirsty Black Pearl pirates capture her, and when Will Turner learns about her capture, he becomes so anxious about her that agrees to set sail with the comical character Captain Jack Sparrow to rescue her, and here, the quest begins.
From breathtaking scenery to creepy walking skeletons, kids will be absolutely spellbound by the amazing CGI and special effects this film offers, whereas you will be swept away by the gorgeous costumes and thrilling music. Marie Claire’s team was especially impressed by the amazingly convincing British accent Johnny Depp put on, and when we interviewed him on the set, he said with that charming smile of his, “Ah, yes, Keira’s been giving me lessons.”
As for the remarkable key make up artist Ken Diaz, he kindly gave Marie Claire some tips on how to achieve the gorgeous Elizabeth Swann look. “You didn’t need to put on too much make up on Keira: she was already quite pretty. I mean, she had superhumanly high cheekbones, flawless, ivory skin, and I really didn’t want to cover that up, so I used only the most elegant nude colours. As little eye make up as possible, unlike Captain Jack Sparrow, where we used up 28 eyeliner pencils only on him. A bit of colour on her cheeks: a lady-like rose blush and lots of lip gloss.” Get ready to see lots more of the natural look, because we took notes!
Aside from the makeup, we think the costumes should be given credit as well. From the “I can’t breathe in these corsets” to the comfy, loose, cotton layers that the pirates wear, we definitely think the costume department did more than just a good job.
There were obviously some mistakes, which Marie Claire noticed, for instance, when Jack Sparrow escapes and is flying around in circles around a pole, the soldiers are told to shoot him. However, we noticed that many were shooting without having to reload. Or, when Elizabeth Swann's maid fills a bed warmer with red-hot coals and then places the warmer at the feet of Elizabeth, who is lying in bed. That's not the way bed warmers were used. They held warm, not red-hot, coals, and were placed in bed before one turned in and removed before the sleeper lay down. If used as shown in the movie, they would have barbecued one's feet.
Another unexpected thing about this hugely successful film, was that it was never expected to be this successful. “A pirate film hasn’t worked well since, well, I don’t know, Peter Pan. But when I saw the cast and after only the first read I knew something good was about to be born.” Director Gore Verbinski said, and he was absolutely right.
So when your kids have just about had enough summer, take them to crash the cinemas and let them have the time of their lives!
