It should be fairly obvious at this point to almost everyone that the multi-billion dollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is evidently running out of ideas and wearing down. On Stranger Tides can give nothing that much new to the franchise, except for a few additional characters, and it should be also fairly obvious that the series is being mostly used as a money maker.
With my opening paragraph said, on Stranger Tides is actually better then the complicated and expensive at World's End, and is arguably just as good or possibly slightly better then Dead Man's Chest. I really enjoyed the Curse of the Black Pearl, which still tops all of the sequels, but I found myself somewhat entertained by on Stranger Tides, even though I recognized the Hollywood chiches were abundant.
This is loosely based off of the 1987 novel, on Stranger Tides, by Tim Powers. Several plot elements from the novel were reintroduced into the movie.
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back yet again, and has travelled to England to find the person who has been impersonating him. That person he discovers is his former girlfriend, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), the daughter of the fearsome pirate, Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach (Ian McShane). Sparrow is captured and sent aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of Blackbeard. Blackbeard is searching for the Fountain of Youth, to forestall the prophecy that he will die at the hand's of a one legged man.
The one legged man is Sparrow's own nemesis, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who is now a privateer in the service of England and is also searching for the Fountain. Also racing the Fountain are a fleet of Spaniards, who want to destroy it for religious purposes.
The characters of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann will definitely be missed. The characters of Blackbeard and Angelica are not exactly the best replacements. It should also be noted somewhere in here that Rob Marshall overtakes directing from Gore Verbinski who directed all three of the previous installments.
In my review of at World's End (in which I practically panned the film), I complained that Sparrow was not as a likeable character as he was previously. This time, neither Depp nor the filmmakers can come up with any new ideas for Sparrow (he's still cracking off jokes, talking his way out of things, and swinging around on a rope while evading British gunfire), but his character is actually much more likeable around this time. The character of Captain Jack Sparrow is quite an iconic one, one of the most iconic of the 21st century.
Compared to both at World's End and Dead Man's Chest, on Stranger Tides is lightweight fun. Hollywood cliches are abundant throughout, the script is poorly written, the Spaniards really don't serve any purpose, it's special effects driven, but at least it's not as confusing as the previous two predecessors.
At the end of the movie, it looks like that Sparrow and his first mate Gibbs (Kevin McNally) are off to save the Black Pearl, Sparrow's beloved ship. The Curse of the Black Pearl rings a few bells here. That was actually a good, piraty movie. This one has been made for a lot of cash.
** ½ /5
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