Is it just me, or did blockbusters peak with Pirates of the Caribbean?
Aug. 19, 2024A Total Film writer on why The Black Pearl still offers the ultimate ride…
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Regardless, Pirates took cinemas by storm. Audiences were thrilled by a transgressive (and ultimately Oscar-nominated) performance from a star at the top of his game and by the assured swagger of Verbinski’s direction. Extravagant cinematography and a seamless blend of practical and digital effects lent pomp and circumstance to the action, while Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer’s hearty score gave this old-fashioned yet hypermodern blockbuster yet more irresistible oomph.
Meanwhile, sympathetic stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley made an endearingly earnest contrast to Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush’s wildly enjoyable scenery-chewing. Undead pirates, swashbuckling sword fights, bombastic boat battles, sizzling chemistry… The Curse of the Black Pearl truly had everything.
It took 20 years for the blockbuster to genuinely surprise again… this time witha film based on a plastic doll, rather than an on-the-rails boat ride. But the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, especially Black Pearl, remains the pinnacle of tent-pole cinema, yet to be bettered. Or is it just me?
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