![]() On Stranger Tides picks up some time after the events at the end of At World’s End with intrepid drunken pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on a search for the lost treasures of Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. Unfortunately, the writers manage to screw the proverbial helper monkey and succumb to the same ludicrous plotting of the sequels and director Rob Marshall ( Chicago, Nine) does the movie no favours by botching nearly every action sequence in the film. There are coincidences aplenty and not a lot of it could really happen in any sort of space time continuum, but there is an ambling affability to the film that fits the series newly minted main character. ![]() The best parts of On Stranger Tides feels almost like a bedtime story being told to a child. By placing the focus on former supporting character Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), the writers actually stick with what they know best. The pointless subplot between missionary Phillip (Sam Claflin) and mermaid Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) is a halfhearted attempt to recreate the romantic void left by the franchises departed stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knighley that never takes hold. The story is, to be certain, crammed with elements that don’t necessarily need to be there for the film to work. ![]() What works, for the first two thirds of On Stranger Tides, is that the screenplay from series scribes Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio is going for a simpler tone. Quite simply, they were as unmemorable to me as the first film was oddly revolutionary. I remember individual scenes from At World’s End, but if asked to recite the plot to you, I wouldn’t be able to. I honestly can’t tell you what happened in Dead Man’s Chest other than the Kraken coming to lay waste to everything, and I really don’t care. The sequels to the original Pirates of the Caribbean are examples of the absolute worst in “epic” filmmaking and created a plot line that managed to become even more labyrinthine than Brian DePalma’s original Mission: Impossible and even harder to follow. I detest the second film in the series, Dead Man’s Chest, with quite a lot of vitriol and the third film, At World’s End is deeply flawed but still manages a few moments of fun. I generally like the first film in the series which, while a bit overlong, is a fun popcorn flick that few people seem to want to make anymore. It almost gets everything I like about the series right, and I must admit a certain affinity while watching it, but once you leave the theatre it will dawn on you that what you just saw wasn’t all that great.Īt this point, I would normally get into the plot of the film, but instead I feel the need to take a detour to explain my thoughts on the other films in the series for my threadbare defence of this film to make any sense. Which is why to some degree it pains me to give the latest entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise a modestly negative review. There are plenty of really bad films that are fun to watch, but that doesn’t make them good films. And music lovers will appreciate the flamenco-guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela's contributions to the soundtrack.I cannot give a film a pass simply because it is fun to watch. McShane, on the other hand, has built an impressive career one villainous character at a time, so he's naturally fierce and frightening as Blackbeard. But as sweet as they are, their forbidden-love subplot isn't nearly as moving as Elizabeth and Will's. With the notable absence of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, whose star-crossed lovers Elizabeth and Will had closure to their story in the last installment, the good-looking-young-couple role is left to Claflin and Berges-Frisbey. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' race for the Fountain of Youth is a simple, easy-to-follow premise there are fewer extraneous characters to keep track of (remember all of those pirates in At World's End?) and Cruz and Depp have an entertaining, charming chemistry with each other that sizzles when they're trading barbs and half-dueling, half-flirting. Director Rob Marshall has stripped away some of the overlong, puzzling plotlines and overdependence on CGI effects that marked Gore Verbinski's first three Pirates films, especially the second and third ones. Depp's rummy rogue is clever and lovable as ever, and that's a big reason audiences are always willing to yo, ho, ho.
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