Decent... but not what I was expecting

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2011)

Ever since I saw "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" in 2005, I have thoroughly enjoyed Captain Jack Sparrow and his many adventures with various Lords and miscreants. But perhaps more so than that, the musical themes of this first movie were simply extraordinary, and I would definitely be so bold as to say that it was in large part to the music that the movie was so successful, and that it is now very much a cinematic classic.
With exquisite titles like the "The Medallion Calls," "The Black Pearl," "Underwater March," and "He's a Pirate," Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer essentially did for Pirates of the Caribbean what John Williams did for Star Wars. With such beautiful, luscious music largely characterizing the film -- giving it an essential, strong musical identity, these brilliant composers managed to distinguish Pirates from all other movies in the industry.
On top of this, the screen writing was simply superb (so good in fact that I can easily read it like a play without actually watching the movie). And even further upon that, the decent casting involved actors very capable of executing their lines, not to mention the fact that the characters are very well-written and developed (which is probably one of the biggest elements aside from the gloriously well done music). Thus, overall, the first Pirates movie was very well done overall, with unique musical themes that set it apart from all other movies.
After that, you had "Dead Mam's Chest," which while so similar to "The Curse of the Black Pearl," wasn't nearly as good. For one thing, the musical themes weren't nearly as strong as those of the first film (although a few stood out, such as "Davy Jones"). And while the same essential characters were involved (with perhaps a few additions), the plot was somewhat underwhelming. And after this decent movie, you had "At World's End." Now, this third film wasn't very much tied to the first film (as it had many new characters, new musical themes, and a somewhat different feel overall). Yet, the plot was very good with music that was slightly underwhelming (even if the titles were decent overall). "At World's End" seemed a much better movie than "Dead Man's Chest," although both weren't what I'd called "disasters."
Skip along to 2011 and you have the latest film of the series: "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." Immediately, it's known that much of the previous cast is no longer present and so mean new characters have been added, with only a handful of the original characters still with Jack on his grand adventures. But this is a problem, because of the few still remaining, Hector Barbossa is a completely different character, playing an almost completely different role. Overall, it's as though everything that made his character charismatic and appealing was stripped away in some second-rate perspective of an otherwise great character. Joshamma Gibbs, as well, seems somewhat "different" in his role, while Jack Sparrow is perhaps the only character still available which seems to have his old flare. So suffice it to say, while the new characters (such as "Black Beard") weren't horrible additions, they simply do not compare to the very attractive and charismatic characters of the previous films. And even on top of this, the introduction to the movie was simply based on an absurd premise, while the plot itself was extremely underwhelming, and on some level, rather disappointing. And this doesn't even begin to get into the fact that music was largely rehashed versions of the original music (used in all sorts of new ways that didn't at all seem "suitable" or "natural," but instead more "forced" or "contrived," as if they just had to throw them in there somewhere).
And lastly, Black Beard, as a new character, was tremendously disappointing. When one thinks of Black Beard, there is often an image of a large, brawny man with a large face and body who seems "larger than life" and downright brutal. The impression of Black Beard in this latest Pirates movie was absolutely nothing like this iconic historic image; instead, he's somewhat weak, not very aggressive, older and shorter than one would imagine, on top of the fact that his evil, nasty nature is only "implied" and never truly "demonstrated!"
Overall, this latest pirates was somewhat underwhelming and disappointing, and I definitely think the first three movies were far superior. 7/10 (mostly because I can't help but enjoy a movie with a Pirates feel to it, the character Jack Sparrow, and some sense of the original music that made the first movie so great). But perhaps I am being too generous here, as this movie was really relatively poor (but just seems to have depended upon the "brand name," "famous stock character," and "signature music" to get by, and that's a shame).