Better than the third

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2011)

POTC-OST is not the best of the series, but it is a step in the right direction. If you, like me, were very disappointed with the third Pirates movie then I do not blame you for wanting to skip out on this one. In fact I was considering not seeing this one myself, especially when the critics reviews came out. I decided to give it a chance, primarily because I had seen the other ones. I was pleasantly surprised and ending up liking the movie. One of the major differences between this and the other Pirates movies (and it is one everyone is going to notice right off the bat) is that Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightely are not in this movie. I am not too disappointed, there story overtook the third Pirates movie, which is part of the reason I did not like it. I was also sick of Knightely terrible speech scenes (if you saw the third you know exactly what I mean). Furthermore a few other pirates who were franchise regulars were missing in this one. What is left from the original three is Jack, Barbosa, Gibbs and the monkey makes two brief cameo appearances.
There was a number of things wrong with the third Pirates movie, among them was the fact that it was long, or it felt long at least. This movie is the shortest of the Pirates films and it moves at a brisk pace. The third Pirates slowed down considerably in the middle, to the point it was almost unbearable to watch. This movie does not make that mistake. This movie is almost all action and because of this it did not feel long, at least in my opinion.
As usual the effects were great. The action is almost nonstop and when there is no action there is enough going on to keep the audience interested. There is also plenty of signature Jack Sparrow humor. Since the previous two (especially the third) were focused almost entirely on the story of Will and Elizabeth Jack was almost forgotten. Another reason the third suffered. It was great to have that story out of the way, because this movie is focused on Jack and that is a strength.
Despite the fact that it improved on a number of the things that made the third bad, this one still is not up to par with the original. It is a good movie all around. It is refreshing and reminds us why we liked these movies in the first place. I recommend giving it a shot, don't expect anything great, just know that this movie is superior in every way to the third.