![]() ![]() For romance, he was often paired with the wonderfully talented Olivia de Havilland, and the two had marvelous chemistry together. Whatever the man’s exploits in life – and they could allegedly be quite awful – his screen persona as a dashing, reckless, yet at heart heroic adventurer charmed and delighted legions of filmgoers throughout the 30s and 40s. Sean Connery, Disney’s animated fox, and even Kevin Costner have their fans and their merits, but there has yet to be a Robin Hood film to surpass Warner Bros.’ The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938, or an actor to surpass Errol Flynn as the king of the swashbucklers. Whether the bittersweet finale they get in the third film matches the happy ending from the first in value will depend on the viewer, but for me, it’s a very satisfying answer to the challenge of carrying on a classical romance past its classical resolution. Jack’s machinations inadvertently put Will and Elizabeth back on the same path for the climax, and dammit if that maelstrom wedding doesn’t put a smile on my face every time I see it. But by At World’s End, there’s a collapse of trust between them as their goals and responsibilities shift. Beginning with the disruption of their wedding, the complications thrown their way are initially external or, if interpersonal, humorous (it’s implied in Dead Man’s Chestthat the closest they’ve come to consummating their affair is fencing lessons). ![]() The sweetness turned spicy when the sequels explored what comes after “happily ever after” for Will and Elizabeth. ![]() It was all very sweet, but it’s not too surprising people took more notice of Captain Jack’s spice. While this gave Knightley plenty to do in the part, her romance with Will Turner ( Orlando Bloom) is among the more traditional elements of The Curse of the Black Pearl, culminating in the type of happy ending you might expect to find in a pirate venture from the 1940s. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have said as much, and also named Elizabeth their favorite character. Too bad they never found one – that I care to acknowledge, that is.Ĭaptain Jack Sparrow may have taken the world by storm, but technically speaking, the protagonist of the initial Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is Kiera Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann. Banderas and Zeta-Jones, accompanied by James Horner’s gorgeous music, leave the audience with such a beautiful sense of romance that it’s no wonder TriStar and Amblin chased after a sequel for them. Their first real encounter, when a hiding Zorro is mistaken for a priest in a confessional, has a wonderful arc to it beginning as a comedy scene, it ends as something tender, a real building block for those later moments.īoth characters are tied to the original Zorro, Don Diego ( Anthony Hopkins) his ultimate, bittersweet blessing of their union leads into one of the most satisfying bookends I’ve seen in a movie. The sparks may fly farthest in the wild hacienda dance or the sexually charged stable sword fight (good luck getting that past a studio C-suite today), but the two play off one another just as well in the quieter moments. But with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the roles, their passion comes alive in a way few swashbucklers before or since have achieved. While the script for The Mask of Zorro is solid, giving Elena substance and her love for the new Zorro Alejandro Murrieta meaning for the story, it isn’t anything too out of the ordinary for a good adventure yarn. This is a film that proves the value of good chemistry. While the scene may not be fun, it does provide Athos and Milady with a dramatic resolution and proves that swashbucklers can have a very dark edge to them. There’s not much about Milady to inspire sympathy, but the sight of all our heroes conducting a kangaroo court is still unsettling. But the final confrontation between Milady, Athos, and the rest of the musketeers is deadly serious. Richard Lester had a penchant for comedy that sometimes works against Dumas’s story. Oliver Reed cuts a grim and broken figure as Athos throughout both films, while Dunaway holds her own alongside fellow villains Christopher Lee and Charlton Heston. ![]() Dishonored and disillusioned, Athos goes about in melancholy, believing his wife hung dead by his own hands Milady, a wicked soul before and after her marriage to Athos, becomes a ruthless spy in Cardinal Richelieu’s employ. To call that relationship a “romance” is a stretch before the events of the film, Athos fell in love with Milady and married her, only to discover her criminal past. ![]()
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