Sparrow takes flight yet again.

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2011)

As long as Johnny Depp continues to don the tri-cornered hat and banadana, it would seem the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise has a lot of life left in it. After all it is a cash cow that Disney will milk until it's udders fall off.
I've noticed in the past that franchise renewals,(Star Wars being a perfect example), seem contrived and somewhat straw clutching in their plots as film makers struggle blindly if not enthusiastically to take their old characters to new levels of excitement. POTC - On Stranger Tides is a welcome exception.
I for one was thrilled with this new installment. I found that making the original films a trilogy bloated them slightly so I'm glad that the new movie, can be pretty much classed as a stand alone adventure as the original Movie was before the sequels were made. I also feel that the future of the franchise should lie in these stand alone adventures where you can watch them in any order you want like the James Bond movies and not watch them in any semblance of order just to keep track of the plot.
Captain Jack Sparrow is without doubt the best anti-hero the screen has had since Clint Eastwood's 'Man With No Name' in the spaghetti westerns of the 1960's and it is a part that Depp will always be best remembered for. It would be a shame if they ruin the franchise by bloating it with a further interlinking trilogy.
It has been a few years since Jack Sparrow graced our screens and it's as if he hasn't been away and everything you expect Jack to be is wonderfully still there. No plot spoilers here I'm glad to say as I do not want to ruin anyone's enjoyment of this magnificent film and you should see it without prior influencing opinions
The only gripe I have is the 3D version which although is very good fails to capitalise on certain situations that would have been great had the 3D been used more effectively, so I feel that they've missed a trick or two on that score. Hollywood studios have been playing about with 3D now for the better part of 60 years and only in that last 10 years or so have nailed it into a viable art form. We now have the technology but it's the technicians that have let this one down slightly.
Don't be upset that there is no Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann in this adventure as that's no bad thing as I feel that their story had gone as far as it could have. As I said earlier, the POTC franchise begins and ends with Jack Sparrow and most importantly, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. As long as he's there, then I'm sure that they'll be many more of these movies to come and thrill us.