Fourth time's the charm?

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2011)

"I have no say in it, Gibbs. It's a pirate's life for me. Savvy?"
I think a fresh start was exactly what the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise needed, and as a result, this is the best entry in the series since the first movie.
While the second and third movies were overly-long and tedious, On Stranger Tides goes for fun and entertainment over the increasingly seriously direction the last couple of movies followed. Jack Sparrow's search for the Fountain of Youth is still a little too long (there's really no reason for these movies to be over two hours in length), and there was DEFINITELY no need for another peripheral love story now that Bloom and Knightley's storyline was finally (and mercifully) ended in At World's End.
The characters of Philip and Syrena are blatantly forced into the story just so there would be another couple, and the time and attention focused on those two definitely hurts the overall pacing of the movie. They're are by far my biggest complaint about On Stranger Tides.
I like the other new additions to the cast, though. The new villain, Blackbeard is appropriately menacing and Penelope Cruz fits the PotC world like a particularly sexy hand in a glove.
I'm glad and slightly surprised to be able to say that the forth entry in this franchise is a good one, and it accomplishes that by going back to what made the first one so likable; it gives us a fun adventure that's not weighed down by attempts to be dark and serious.