An unspectacular follow-up

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2011)

On Stranger Tides wasn't nearly as "strange" as the third installment, At World's End, nearly as crippled with plot holes, and not even half as spectacular as Dead Man's Chest.
While it brings back everyone's favorite two battling pirates, Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, who were played out in all their colorful glory, none of the supporting characters were of great interest at all. Probably most disappointing was Blackbeard, who looked like any other pirate and didn't stand out to me as being a very imposing villain. Compare him with Barbossa when he was a ghost, Tia Dalma and especially Davy Jones.
Lots of missed opportunities here. First of all I would have made his beard BLACK, and something you can't take your eyes off of (hence the name), and I would have given him more magical power and sinister dialog. He should have been made into the nastiest, least honorable pirate alive. And I would NEVER have given him a girly daughter.
The mermaids were interesting as an idea, but as characters they played too small a role to sustain my attention. The Fountain of Youth was promising when they crossed into it but failed to deliver after they arrived. It was about as visually appealing as... well, an ordinary cave spring, only with a hint of ruins standing within.
The movie had many amusing moments, but they were strung together by the traditional pirate clichés and more sword fights that offered nothing we haven't seen before.
The background pirates were hardly even noticeable. No lovable sidekick pirates like Ragetti and Pintel or mascots like the undead monkey.
All in all it was fun to see Johnny Depp play Jack again, one of his most compelling characters, and Geoffrey Rush's ingenious Barbossa, but if you're looking for something to top Gore Verbinski's trilogy you'll be disappointed.