Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - Verbinski's sprawling Disney swashbuckler is a prime summer spectacle

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+ Best New Franchise of the Year + Best Pirate Movie of the Year

The propped up, attractive stars and a vivid title design and painting, evoking childhood's lively pirate yarns, adorn this effective poster for Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

In the early 1700s, the daughter of a high-ranking British Governor falls in love with a pirate, and they are whirled into an adventure, when his blood becomes the key to unlocking the curse of a pirate ship.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is written by Ted Elliott (Small Soldiers (1998)) and Terry Rossio (Deja Vu (2006)), with Stuart Beattie (The Protector (1997)) and Jay Wolpert (Whew! (1979-80)) contributing story elements, based on the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride at Disney's theme parks, and directed by great Tennessean filmmaker Gore Verbinski (Mousehunt (1997)).
It is a fun swashbuckler throw-back tale that's loaded with peculiar characters, splashy colors and action sequences - and eye-catching CGI walking and fighting skeletons!
Johnny Depp's (Chocolat (2000)) Captain Jack Sparrow is a hit and charmingly original, and Orlando Bloom (Main Street (2010)) is a delicious treat to look at. 
The first Pirates movie is just around 10-15 minutes overlong, especially due to a bit many fighting scenes, - but it is still an excellent and rare blockbuster favorite.

Related post:

Gore Verbinski: Rango (2011) - Verbinski's amusing family western animation

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 140 mil. $
Box office: 654.2 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.67 times its cost)
[Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl premiered 28 June (Disneyland, California) and runs 143 minutes. Early development leaned towards a direct-to-video movie, before Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer boarded the ship. Disney were wary to make another ride-based movie after the flop of ride-based The Country Bears (2002), but were convinced in pre-production that the case was different with Pirates. Overt references to the theme park ride were removed from the script at the request of Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California, the Dominican Republic and in St Vincent and the Grenadines, a small Anglo-Caribbean country, from October 2002 - March 2003. The cave set took 5 months to build. 6 days were spent on open ocean shooting the ship battles between the Dauntless and the Black Pearl (both built on barges) and the Interceptor, which was re-dressed full-scale replica sailing ship the Lady Washington. The skeleton effects dictated shooting each of their scenes twice; with and without actors. Depp was paid 10 mil. $ for his performance. Verbinski reportedly spent 18 hour days in editing, which had only 4 months before the film's release. 250 effects shots consisted of removing modern sailboats from shots. The Curse of the Black Pearl banner was added to the title in the hopes that the film would perform well enough to allow a sequel. It became the first Disney movie to get e PG-13 rating. The film opened #1 to a 46.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 7 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#2-#3-#4-X-X-#5-#3-#5), grossing 305.4 mil. $ (46.7 % of the total gross) from a terrific 26-week release. Its success came as a surprise; it sold an estimated 50.64 mil. tickets in the US and marked Depp's entry to super leading man stardom. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 59.8 mil. $ (9.1 %) and the UK with 47.5 mil. $ (7.3 %). It was the 4th highest-grossing film of the year. It was the #1 movie internationally for 7 straight weeks. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this review. The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Depp) to Sean Penn for Mystic River, Sound Editing to Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Sound Mixing to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Makeup also to The Return of the King and Visual Effects also to The Return of the King. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 1/5 BAFTA nominations and several other minor honors. It broke a record in North America's home video market by selling 11 mil. copies in its first week in sale; by 2004 it had made an extra 235.5 mil. $ on home video sales alone, which, if added into the equation, would change the film's status to that of a huge hit. The film spun a franchise that has so far born 4 sequels: Verbinski made the first terrific sequel Dead Man's Chest (2006) and the terrible 3rd film, At World's End (2007); Rob Marshall made On Stranger Tides (2011) and Norwegians Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg made Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Verbinski first returned with The Weather Man (2005). Depp returned in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003); Bloom in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Keira Knightley (Thunderpants (2002)) in Love Actually (2003); and Geoffrey Rush (The Daughter (2015)) in Harvie Krumpet (2003, short) and theatrically in Intolerable Cruelty (2003). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.11/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl?

National Treasure (2004) - Stars shine in Turteltaub's preposterous adventure baloney

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Star Nicolas Cage crowns some ancient scrolls on this mystery-indicating poster for Jon Turteltaub's National Treasure

A historian races against mercenaries to find a secret treasure detailed on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

National Treasure is written by Jim Kouf (A Fork in the Road (2009)), Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley (Motel Blue (1997), both), with Oren Aviv (RocketMan (1997)) and Charles Segars contributing story elements, and directed by Jon Turteltaub (Think Big (1989)).
A type Indiana Jones for another age this action adventure never becomes, and the ambitions also seem set at a lower, popcorn-pushing level of entertainment. 
Nicolas Cage (Kiss of Death (1995)) is in a way miscast here as historian hero Benjamin Gates, the professorial adventurer after a Masonic treasure. The plot is a colorful concoction devised with inspiration from the Dan Brown-mania that was rampant at the time, and set in God's own country, perhaps to distinguish it clearly from its still un-adapted bestseller kin. But the story is far-fetched and superficial, the film unconvincing.
It does have a strong cast, which also includes Harvey Keitel (A Crime (2006)), Jon Voight (Zoolander (2001)) and Sean Bean (Ca$h (2010)).

 

Related post:

 

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 100 mil. $
Box office: 347.5 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.47 times its cost)
[National Treasure premiered 8 November (California) and runs 131 minutes. Development began in 1999. Shooting took place in Utah, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, including Los Angeles, and Washington DC in and around September 2003. Cage was paid 20 mil. $ for his performance. The film opened #1 to a 35.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks at #1 and one more in the top 5 (#3), grossing 173 mil. $ (49.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 16.9 mil. $ (4.9 %) and Spain with 15.9 mil. $ (4.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Turteltaub, Cage and several other principals returned with the successful sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). In between, Turteltaub directed 2 episodes of Jericho (2006, TV-series). Cage first returned in Lord of War (2005). National Treasure is rotten at 46 % with a 5.32/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of National Treasure?

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) - A good cast raise Hogan's entertaining, silly chick-flick

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Isla Fisher looks more or less stylish and/or tantalizing in long stockings and high heels on this poster for P.J. Hogan's Confessions of a Shopaholic

A journalist in New York loses her job and is forced to take charge of her shopping mania.

Isla Fisher (Nocturnal Animals (2016)) is sweet and funny in the lead here and finds herself cast against a very cute Hugh Dancy (Hannibal (2013-15)). Krysten Ritter (Gravity (2010), TV-series) is also good as a friend.
Confessions of a Shopaholic is energetic fluff without any major, intelligent insight behind it. It is best watched half-drunk, in which state it is a fairly good time. But it is a really silly and predictable serving. - It does sport an incredibly good cast though, which also includes John Lithgow (Dexter (2009), TV-series), Joan Cusack (My Sister's Keeper (2009)), John Goodman (Pope Joan (2009)) and Kristin Scott Thomas (Force Majeure (1989)).
The film is written by Tracey Jackson (The Guru (2002)), Tim Firth (Calender Girls (2003)) and Kayla Alpert (Ally McBeal (2001), TV-series), based on the two first books in the Shopaholic book series by Sophie Kinsella (Twenties Girl (2009)), and directed by great Australian filmmaker P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)).

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 108.3 mil. $
= Flop
[Confessions of a Shopaholic premiered 5 February (New York) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in New York, Connecticut and Miami, Florida from February - May 2008. The ending was reshot in December 2008 to make it less offensive to the new and building financial crisis recession climate. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release Friday the 13th and holdover hits He's Just Not that Into You and Taken, to a 15 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 the following week and grossed 44.2 mil. $ (40.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK, where Kinsella hails from, with 12.1 mil. $ (11.2 %) and Australia with 6.5 mil. $ (6 %). Confessions of a Shopaholic is rotten at 25 % with a 4.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Confessions of a Shopaholic?

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure

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1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Supporting Actor: Alfred Molina (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man) 

 

The colorful, polished poster for Mike Newell's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

The illegitimate prince Dastan of Persia launches on a dangerous adventure, when the king gets poisoned, and Dastan and a beautiful woman come to the possession of a magical dagger.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an adaptation of the Prince of Persia video game franchise first released in 1989, and particularly the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time game released in 2003. The film's plot has many of the right elements, but ultimately the span between computer game style, (Dastan escapes and gets ambushed a number of times as in one of the games), and CGI on the one side and an attempt at a plot about brotherly betrayal with a smack of Shakespeare on the other is too great.

The effects are well-made, but the central time-traveling dagger is some silly nonsense. And it also weighs down that the film's obligatory black character (played by Steve Toussaint (Point Break (2015))) dies right when expected, living up to the old rule that the black character in major action-adventure movies dies.

Gemma Arterton (Byzantium (2012)) is fine if not memorable in any way, and Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko (2001)) has an undeniably nice head of hair here as well as some charisma, - but why does the Persian speak British-accent English? (I understand that this follows the games, but without any explanation for it in the film, it still feels inane.) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time seems distinctly below Ben Kingsley (Gandhi (1982)), but he does give life to the king, even though it is Alfred Molina (The Truth about Emanuel (2013)) as a funny, ostrich race-arranging scoundrel who is the greatest pearl of the film.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is written by Boaz Yakin (The Punisher (1989)), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (The Sorceror's Apprentice (2010), both) and directed by great English director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)). It is an okay cock-and-bull story.

 

Related posts:

 

Mike Newell:  2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Donnie Brasco (1997) - Newell's fantastic, authentic gangster tale

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 150-200 mil. $

Box office: 336.3 mil. $

= Uncertainty: Flop or big flop

[Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time premiered May 9 (London) and runs 116 minutes. The film was conceptualized by Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney as 'the new Pirates of the Caribbean.' Filming took place in Morrocco and England (Pinewoods Studios) from July 2008 - January 2009. Gyllenhaal has said that he "over-prepared" for the role by gaining 5-6 pounds of muscle. It is reported that the film suffered from overspending due to a 'rush' to finish its CGI effects for the release, although it had more than a year from end of production to release. The film opened #3 (behind holdover hit Shrek Forever After and newcomer Sex and the City 2) to a 30 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it jumped to #2 for its 2nd week before falling to #4 and out of the top 5 and grossed 90.7 mil. $ (27 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 21.5 mil. $ (6.4 %) and France with 16.6 mil. $ (4.9 %). The film became the highest-grossing video game adaptation, eventually dethroned by Warcraft (2016). It has sold in excess of 1.6 mil. DVDs and Blu-rays, totaling more than 33.9 mil. $. If added to the theatrical gross, this, however, doesn't change the film's flop status. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is rotten at 36 % with a 5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time?

Days of Thunder (1990) or, Very Little Thunder

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The flashy poster for Tony Scott's Days of Thunder doesn't exactly sell its star Tom Cruise short

QUICK REVIEW:

The prince of racing and his ups and downs.

Thunder presents a thick story that's simultaneously a thin story, you might say. Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)) is terrific from first shot, while Randy Quaid (Not Another Teen Movie (2001)) and Robert Duvall (True Confessions (1981)) yell and scream, respectively, while trotting around in the background in this dull case, which is an obvious attempt to make a new Top Gun (1986), only in new surroundings.
Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut (1999)) has charm as Cruise's love interest, - the two got married off-camera in 1990, (and divorced 11 years later), - and the two, understandably, have good chemistry here, but Kidman's role in Thunder is far beneath her talent. And that is a general problem for this weak, only slightly interesting serving of sports nonsense.
It was written by Robert Towne (Shampoo (1975)), with Cruise supplying story elements, and directed by the late English master filmmaker Tony Scott (The Hunger (1983)).
- Not much thunder in this vehicle.

Related reviews:
 
Tony Scott: Stoker (2013) - Chan-wook Park's over-styled American debut revolts and bores in turns (producer)  
Déjà Vu (2006) - T. Scott cuts a helluva suspense-cake!
Domino (2005) - T. Scott's bounty-hunter biopic a complete misfire, mega-flop

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 157.9 mil. $
= Box office success
[Days of Thunder was released June 27 and runs 108 minutes. It was shot in Daytona and Charlotte, North Carolina from January - May 1990, going no less than 3 months over schedule. The shoot was fraught with problems and a team of producers, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Towne and director Scott, who argued a lot and, reportedly especially the former three, increased the spendings drastically with outrageous production decisions like building a private gym for themselves, giving away designer dresses to woo women, building sets multiple times, throwing expensive parties and pressing cast and crew members to work (expensive) overtime. The result was a nearly doubled budget that could have posed a serious problem for them all. But the film opened #1 to 15.4 mil. $ in North America, where it grossed 82.6 mil. $ (52.3 % of the total gross). The film was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, losing to Dances with Wolves (1990). It was also successful on video, making at least an additional 40 mil. $ there. - But the bloated budget and diminished quality of the film still makes its success much smaller than Top Gun's, which made back its budget almost 24 times, (Thunder only did so 2.6 times.) Days of Thunder is rotten at 38 % with a 4.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Days of Thunder?