On Medium Tides!!!

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2011)

What started amazingly with The Curse of the Black Pearl, was carried forward remarkably by Dead Man's Chest and ended astoundingly by At World's End (though many people may beg to differ), staggers a lot with On Stranger Tides. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides rests solely on Captain Jack Sparrows' shoulders, because its other characters are hazy enough and do not let their presence being felt. A huge disappointment being Blackbeard (Ian McShane) who fails to deliver as the feared pirate he's supposed to be. The movie opens with a map being found, and then we directly jump to London, where Gibbs has been imprisoned by the British. A major distress over here was Captain Jack Sparrows' entry, unlike previous movies, where Jack's entry oozed awesomeness, here it lacks big time. After it, for around 30-40 minutes, it's just swords clashing, people escaping, witty fight dialogs, and everything you had already witnessed in the previous movies. Half way into the movie, you wish it were less of fighting and more on content, but the clashing goes on and on. Except for a few sequences like the Mermaid Hunt, which is brilliantly executed, rest all somehow feels a repetition of the earlier movies in the merchandise. The movie does deliver on the story premise too, but only in the later portions, where you can actually guess (if you're a Pirate's fan like me) what is going to happen. The climax is somewhat anticipated, but not from far. And as always it leaves scope for another sequel. The witty one-liners of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) are quite few, which might bring chuckles to your faces, but still being compared to what we've seen earlier, one would be disappointed to a large extent. Angelica (Penelope Cruz) is a character which could've been explored further, but amidst all the gunshots she comes across just as another coat of gloss added to shine. Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) makes impression and does deliver up to his wicked reputation. Blackbeard (Ian McShane) as I'd mentioned earlier fails to make you shiver as the evil pirate, whom all pirates fear. Comparing his image with what Barbossa had in The Curse of the Black Pearl, or what Davy Jones had in Dead Man's Chest, he does not seem someone who is even remotely feared. Philip (Sam Claflin) and Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), who are a part of a small sub-plot are okay and don't have much to offer. The only character which has been utilized to full extent seems to be Jack Sparrow, who is the only reason this film needs to be seen. He's excellent, in the escape sequences (which I believe were a little far-fetched) and does bring that quirky smile on your faces with his antics and his sharp lines. The romance between the lead pair is cold and one gets really confused whether Jack 'actually' loves Angelica or not. Overall the movie falters as it's got glossy action sequences but a weak plot and average performances. All it needed was a little character improvisation and crisp script, and it could easily have at least lived up to the movies prior in this series. Though I watched it in 2D, I doubt whether 3D actually does any good. There are very few scenes which portray good use of 3D technology. Director Rob Marshall clearly, bombed as compared to Gore Verbinski (Director of previous 3 Pirate movies). Even if one does not compare it with the previous three movies, this one is just an average masala gun-trotting fare. I would give it 3 out of 5, simply because it's a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Johnny Depp deserves it, none the less!