Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

5/10

Starring
Johnny Depp
Penélope Cruz
Ian McShane
Geoffrey Rush


Directed by Rob Marshall

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is an adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. In the film, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is joined by Angelica (Penélope Cruz). I am not a huge fan of part 4s and was skeptical about the movie and expected it to stink, but it didn’t stink as much as i expected.

This movie packs a lot of action and reminds us why we liked the 1st Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. This to me is manageable, bust should be a reason for Disney to stop production of movies in this franchise. The writers tried to bring back the adventure focus of the first movie, by stripping down the side plots of the first three films. The writers tried to give us the old Jack Sparrow…oh! Sorry, he prefers to be called by his full name Captain Jack Sparrow.

Also in this movie we have Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) return with a lot of arggh, and a lost leg. You won’t even miss Will and Elizabeth Turner as Angelica (Penelope Cruz) does a good job as the new female lead to replace the two.

The plot to me was pointless and lacks all form of common sense, and yet I stayed glued, in loyalty to the franchise. The movie did have lumps, as Jack Sparrow's swag was a little tuned down and we get to see him look serious at some time, the length of the movie to me was also not reasonable. Some dialogue were... let me say foolish and while some achieved the purpose of making you laugh.

The plot continues from the previous movie, as we watch a three way chase for The Fountain of Youth, by The Spanish, The English led by Babossa and Blackbeard (Ian McShane). The movie has a subplot that involves a mermaid (French actress Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) and a missionary (Sam Claflin). Ian McShane, did well in the role of Blackbeard as he had the voice that can make any character look like the devil himself.

The romance between Jack and Angelica was just odd as we see them fall in and out of the love thingy, which made no sense.

If you are a big fan of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, you will love this one. If like me you believe that Disney should have stopped after the first movie, and the second and third were a waste of your money, this will also be a waste of those precious bills.

In conclusion, Johnny Depp put in a near good enough performance and although I believe the writers could have done a better Job with the plot, I still give the movie a five as it did have it's funny moments.

With the box office returns and if rumors are true a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie should be expected. I just wish Disney will take a cue and stop while it is still hot.

But as the way things go, studios do not stop until they make a loss or a small profit which could be equated to a loss. Here is a movie that is best left to be seen later and not to be seen in the cinemas.