Recap of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Elizabeth Swann sails for Port Royal in the Caribbean. Her fascination with pirates worries her father, Governor Swann, and James Norrington, leader of the port's British naval forces. On the way, they encounter a burning shipwreck, and recover a lone survivor, a young boy named Will Turner. Elizabeth discovers he is wearing a golden medallion with a skull on it, concluding he is a pirate. She steals the medallion, hiding it from him and her father. She spots a Ghost Ship with black sails vanishing into the fog.
Years later, Elizabeth still owns the medallion and has a Will They or Won't They? relationship with Will, now an unappreciated blacksmith. Norrington is promoted to the rank of Commodore, and proposes the Elizabeth. Suffocated by her tight corset, she plunges off the fort into the sea. Her medallion sends out a shockwave across the sea. Elizabeth is rescued by Captain Jack Sparrow, an infamous if somewhat idiotic pirate, who sailed into the port in search of a ship to commandeer. Evading arrest, Jack ends up duelling Will in a swordfight, and loses. That night, the Black Pearl, a pirate ship, sails into port and starts blowing it up. Elizabeth surrenders herself to the pirates, meeting Captain Barbossa, who was in search of the medallion. Elizabeth lies that her surname is Turner, and is taken captive aboard the Black Pearl.
Will busts Jack out of jail to rescue Elizabeth, later learning Jack was the former captain of the Black Pearl, but was marooned by Barbossa. The two steal The Interceptor and set sail. Jack reveals he knew Will's late father, Bootstrap Bill, who was a pirate and a member of his crew. The two reach Tortuga, hiring a wacky crew of pirates led by the drunken, superstitious Joshamee Gibbs. Meanwhile, Elizabeth discovers Barbossa's crew are cursed. They came across the legendary treasure of Hernán Cortés on Isla de Muetre, ignoring the warning that anyone who removed the medallions from the chest would become undead. When exposed to moonlight, the pirates turn into living skeletons. To escape their curse, the pirates must collect every medallion and return them to the chest, along with a blood debt. They mistake Elizabeth for Bootstrap Bill's child.
Will and Jack reach the island. Barbossa discovers Elizabeth lied, and she is rescued by Will, whilst Jack is taken prisoner. The pirates chase Will and Elizabeth's crew, blowing up The Interceptor. Will agrees to help Barbossa in exchange for Elizabeth's freedom. Barbossa, being a master of words, has Jack and Elizabeth marooned on the island Jack was abandoned on before. Jack reveals to Elizabeth his reputation as a pirate is a sham. After getting Jack drunk, Elizabeth uses a signal fire to summon the navy, reuniting with her father and Norrington. Though they wish to return home, Elizabeth convinces Norrington to rescue Will as a wedding gift. Will, onboard the Black Pearl, learns Bootstrap objected to Jack's initial marooning, and was sent to a watery grave as punishment.
Jack returns to Isla de Muetre, convincing Barbossa to hold off the removal of the curse to eliminate the navy and start his own pirate fleet. The pirates travel underwater, attacking the naval forces waiting to ambush them. Jack and Will both turn on Barbossa, leading to a lengthy swordfight. Barbossa runs Jack through, but he is revealed to have been cursed when he steps into moonlight (having removed a medallion beforehand). Elizabeth frees Gibbs and co. from the Black Pearl, but they sail away to follow the pirate's code. She then joins Will. He and Jack break the curse, Jack shooting Barbossa through the heart, killing him. Freed of their curse, the pirates surrender.
Some time later, Jack faces the hangman's noose, but Will rescues him. Elizabeth defends both men, Norrington realising that she loves Will and steps aside. Jack falls backwards over the fort wall, but is rescued by the Black Pearl, returning to the role as captain.
