Lots of swash, lots of buckle, not much plot

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2011)

The "Pirates" franchise is one of the strangest in the world of movies; it is so entertaining and profitable and yet based on nothing more than a theme park ride and totally lacking the narrative form of the "Harry Potter" films or the endlessly refreshed format of the James Bond outings.
At its heart is Captain Jack Sparrow, one of the oddest and most lovable characters in cinema and an absolute triumph of creation by Johnny Depp. Nothing else seems to matter, as long as there is endless swash and buckle.
For "Pirates 4", Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have sailed over the horizon but Geoffrey Rush is back again, wide-eyed and legless, and Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz are now on board. And we have mermaids - but not as we usually imagine them (think "Splash").
As with the other "Pirates" sailings, an intelligent – or at least intelligible – plot is as elusive as a mermaid's tear. All that is clear is that everyone is seeking the Fountain of Youth and, at some two and a quarter hours, the viewer too might want to join the search.
Yet visually it is all so kinetic and emotionally it is all so much fun, we forgive the leaks in the hold and just go along for the voyage. At the end of the endless credits, there is a short clip that makes it clear that "Pirates 5" will be docking in a few years.