arrrrighty then...

Rating: 4/10 (13 December 2011)

I'm not a huge fan of the series... I remember loving the first Pirates. I saw that one at the theater with my now wife. I remember sleepwalking through the second one. I caught bits and pieces of the third, but have still never really sat through the whole thing in one setting.
Enough time had passed by to let me give this series a new chance last night. I was committed to going in without reading too much about it, and watching the film in its' entirety.
There were many strengths and weaknesses here - so it might be best if I break it down that way.
Strengths: Johnny Depp is still charming and witty, and Jack Sparrow has little to nothing to do with this series' decline.
Penelope Cruz wasn't nearly as annoying as I usually find her to be.
The set-up was decent.
The film did showcase some nice visuals, and it had some really good ideas. The one that stands out is the first Mermaid sequence. It was a fresh take, and easily the most exciting scene in the entire movie.
Weaknesses: I love Geoffrey Rush, but Barbossa as a character here is poorly written and has completely lost his backbone.
Blackbeard is also poorly written and also seems a bit weak.
While this isn't as long as some previous entries - it still seems overlong.
Too many characters that are under-developed.
The film suffers from some of the same, extremely unrealistic fantasy stuff, and I'm not talking about "the Fountain of Youth". I'm talking about Ropes that move on there own etc. These types of issues have seemed to get worse as the series moves on. I know it's a fantasy film, but Pirate lore is based in fact and I wish the entire series would have been a little more realistic. It could have still been fun.
-------------------------------
The good news is I made it through it. More good news is I won't again. The bad news is they'll make another. The really bad news is that many of us will pay to see it. I won't. I'm done with the series. Even though I missed much of the third installment - I think I can say with confidence that this thing hasn't been right since the original.
44/100