Spectacle Over Sense

Rating: 4/10 (1 April 2012)

Watching "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in the theater was an oppressive experience, with its bombastic score, overripe performances, and hyper-long running time. Watching it at home on my new Blu-Ray and high-def TV presented a more entertaining experience.
There the film's signature strengths blossom forth, especially John Myrhe's stellar production design as it re-imagines the streets of London in the 18th century or the forecastle of the "Queen Anne's Revenge" lined with bony balusters taken from Blackbeard's victims. The sound is plenty good, too.
I still think the film plods along hopelessly, in service of a barely-there plot that takes too long to pay off. Still, it makes for a nice demonstration disc. That's about does it for raves from me, but it was more than I expected going in.
The previous entry in the "Pirates" series, "At World's End," wrapped up what became a trilogy of "Pirates" movies and, in so doing, carried a lot of baggage to be worked out over three long, convoluted hours. It was the only "Pirates" film I saw before this one, and I can say the fourth film makes for a slightly better experience. It starts fresh.
Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) opens the film as a captain without a ship or crew. He does have something to help him get his sea-legs back, an idea of where to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. He soon finds himself a prisoner of Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his convent-raised daughter Angelica (Penélope Cruz), in a race with the peg-legged privateer Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and three Spanish vessels. All seek the prize, albeit for very different motives.
"On Stranger Tides" lacks for something I'll call "motive force," a reason for people acting the way they do. The Fountain is a bit of a MacGuffin, though it serves a purpose in an engaging climax that takes too long to arrive. For the most part, what you get is a lot of Depp's fruity overacting as the verbose Sparrow, along with some mild comedy and action scenes that strain for spectacle while leaving you at a loss as to what is being accomplished or how.
Director Rob Marshall comes to this movie having helmed successful musicals, and his choreography background is too much in evidence. So is a subplot involving a missionary and a mermaid that is shoehorned for obvious chick appeal and slows down the already-overladen plot at many turns. (I admit I can stare at mermaid Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as long as they let me, but I don't think they gave her much to do.)
Depp can be entertaining; he's thoroughly committed to getting more out of the material than a paycheck. "I'm just as bent as ever! Hellishly so!" he tells his faithful sidekick Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally). I just wish Marshall had told his star to take it down a couple of notches, instead of following Depp along for the ride.
Well, "Pirates Of The Caribbean" was a ride, before it was anything else. I guess he felt Depp knew what he was doing, and I suppose a billion in theatrical revenue bears that up. I just don't think this film merits lasting interest. It pushes everything to eleven without explaining much of what is going on, expecting the audience to be swept along. I suspect more than a few were shaking their heads about it a bit later.
Zombies? Fire-breathing ships controlled by a sword? The movie seems written to accommodate its special effects, which aren't so much special as loud. Still, the film does generate something positive from its last hour. McShane is a welcome addition to the cast, glowering effectively as the one true villain of the piece, and gives the ending needed panache.
Will I want to see another "Pirates"? Well, this was better seeing cold than #3 was. There are definite signs of the series losing steam. While diverting in short bursts, Sparrow and company have become leaden, unengaging caricatures. With the money this made, there's no reason for the producers to rein in the excesses any further than they already did. But one can hope. "On Stranger Tides", for all its weaknesses, offers intermittent fun and a sense of possibilities to be explored.