Dosn't live up to its predecessors

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2011)

Flick Reviews Wes Yunker Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
My hopes for the new Pirates of the Caribbean film was average at best. First of all there was the fact that Gore Verbinski did not return to make this fourth installment. Secondly, no Orlando Bloom and no Keira Knightly. I do agree that there story had been spent up and they lived happily ever after but in all reality Johnny Depp as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow is what I would call a supporting role. There needs to be that straight man to even it out. And that is how I ended up feeling when watching At Stranger Tides. It was as if all the villains and great supporting cast of the first three films were having a separate spin off adventure. Sure I love Sparrow and Barbosa but not as leads. I'm not saying that they should have brought back Bloom and Knightly and I'm also not saying that they should have brought some other good looking male and female leads to take their place. So they were just screwed from the beginning in that sense. The second issue with the films was the villain. The notorious Pirate known only as Blackbeard (Ian McShane) did not in any way measure up to the villains in the first three Pirates movies. You don't see him at first and you're waiting wondering what this guy is going to be like. And then when he finally makes his long awaited entrance you may be somewhat disappointed; I know I was. I wasn't afraid of him, I didn't find him the least bit threatening, and could someone please explain to me how he has the ability to control the magical movement of everything in this ship by just waving his sword. And I would also love to know how he has the ability to capture gigantic ships and store them in tiny glass bottles. These are two things that are never explained in the film. We know why Barbosa turns into a skeleton in the moonlight and we know why The Flying Dutchmen has a tentacle face heart beats outside of his chest, but what the hell makes Blackbeard so magical? I would have been fine with that if it was explained. But I must say with its flaws it was a very entertaining flick. Quite better than the third which is still my least favorite and still not nearly as good as the first two (the second, Dead Man's Chest being my favorite of the whole franchise). I must praise the new director Rob Marshall ( Chicago, Nine) there was never a single moment when I felt that this movie was by a different director. It had the same look and feel as Verbinski gave to the first three. The action (entertaining as it sometimes was) often times seemed a little too much like a time filler. There has been great action scenes from the Pirates franchise that have stood out in my head but in this film most where pretty forgettable. The greatest scene in the film was most defiantly the mermaid scene. I won't reveal anything all I'll say is that it was the greatest moment of tension in the whole film. And of course Johnny was good as always as Jack Sparrow. It's the same old Jack; I don't need to say any more. A great new addition was Penelope Cruz. She did a great job as Angelica, a not to be reckoned with con artist and Sparrow's former lover who joins the cast on this fun, entertaining, just not all that satisfying installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. 3 ½ out of 5