Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 4 Stars

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2012)

In her 1969 essay, "Trash, Art and the Movies", Pauline Kael said, "Movies are so rarely great art, that if we cannot appreciate great trash, we have very little reason to be interested in them."
What we've got here is a franchise that is absurd and preposterous, long and loud, silly and stupid. It has sailed to many seas and crossed numerous tides. These pirates have found treasures of all sorts and sizes, except common sense. We don't need this franchise, but what elevates "Pirates of the Caribbean" from trash trash to great trash is that it fully recognizes its absurd, preposterous, long, loud, silly and stupid self.
I've always believed that dumb movies can be celebrated if it stuffs its empty brain with fun and humor. And it seems that there is not a moment in this movie where the characters treat the plot with any form of seriousness. Even when our heroes are at a state where their lives are in grave danger, they somehow manage to squeeze in a punch line and laugh, and we are invited to laugh with them.
Read more here: http://localmoviereview.com/pirates-caribbean-stranger- tides/