Best of the sequels

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2015)

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the odd one out in the quadrilogy (as there must be in any quadrilogy) but I think it's an overlooked gem, and is my second favourite of the franchise, after Black Pearl. Dead Man's Chest and At Worlds end had their moments (Davey Jones and his crew are a special effects highlight), but are so bombastic, overblown and convoluted to the point of freaking madness, it's nice to see a shorter, saner, more toned down sequel that ditches all the hooplah and gets down to what made the first one special. Also, it ditches Keira Knightely and Orlando Bloom in favor of some new characters to freshen things up. Knightley I always enjoy and somewhat missed, but I was damn happy to be rid of wooden faced Bloom, he's just such a buzz kill in anything but Lord Of The Rings. Hear that shrill sound on the wind? That's the furious cries of several million girls reading this and calling for my head on a stick for my comments about Bloom (believe me, I've explained my opinion on this to girls I've known in person, and the looks I've gotten could melt steel beams lol). Deal with it. There's still Johnny Depp, free from much of the CGI spectacle of the two previous ones and immersed in an enjoyable story, this time searching for the infamous Fountain Of Youth. Also out to find it is ex - villain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush can play this character for the rest of his career as far as I'm concerned, he's always a delight), now working for the King of England (Richard Griffiths in one of his final appearances). Penelope Cruz fares well as a fellow rapscallion out to find the fountain. I also fell head over heels for the stunning, eerie mermaid played by newcomer Astrid Bèrges. It's Ian McShane as Blackbeard, however, who steals the show. Ian has a presence that fills every frame and second of dialogue he's in, and he has a blast as the notorious pirate king, sporting eyeliner, the classic tricorner hat and a psychopathic attitude. I was just so pleased to find the sense of adventure restored in the franchise, an order out of the previous chaos of sorts. It's the sort of spirit that's owed to the legacy of the first movie, and the same spirit I hope to see from the upcoming fifth entry.