Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [M]

Captain Jack Sparrow is back and looking for a ship and a crew to sail him to the far reaches of the earth to the Fountain of Youth. But Jack is not the only one seeking the Fountain. A former flame, the British Navy, the Spanish Navy and the feared pirate Blackbeard also have their eyes on Jack’s prize. With the odds against him, can Jack counter his bad luck a fourth time?

In all honesty, they should have left Pirates at one. Turning it into a trilogy, where only two of the movies are actually connected, and then continuing on to make a bloody fourth one, really was milking it. However, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was just as good as At World’s End although a little more supernatural and tyring to be as clever, but failing somewhat. 

Captain Jack Sparrow is back and looking for a ship and a crew to sail him to the far reaches of the earth to the Fountain of Youth. But Jack is not the only one with his eyes on this prize. Angelica, a former flame, plans to sail to the Fountain to regain some years that Jack stole from her. The British Navy, led by Captain Barbossa seek to get there before the Spanish do, although Barbossa has another plan in mind. The Spanish Navy aim to keep the Fountain safe from travellers who seek to use its powers, and Blackbeard, the most feared pirate to ever sail the seas seeks to use the Fountain to escape his grim fate of being killed by a one-legged man. With the odds against him, can Jack counter his bad luck a fourth time? 

I have to say right away that this movie is going into the collection, whether it deserved to or not. I mean, you can’t have Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End and not have the next Pirates instalment. Having said that, it must also be said that this is the worst Pirates of the four. Oh come on, someone always has to come last. The story was stable, the characters were intriguing, a handful of familiar faces are back playing their roles, and the script was quite clever in some parts. But ultimately, On Stranger Tides was just another pirate action movie, unable to successfully scale the lofty heights of its predecessors. 

As I mentioned before, the movie delves more along the supernatural and sea legends path, so we see all manner of creatures from mermaids to zombies to ships that take on a life of their own. I think actually, that my favourite moment in the film was when Jack and Barbossa are reunited on a decaying ship that is in danger of slipping over the edge of a cliff. That entire scene of them trying to maintain balance was something right out of Chaplin’s The Gold Rush. Classic. 

Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush. Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally, Sam Clafin, Stephen Graham, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Richard Griffiths, and Keith Richards, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was a fun and action packed movie that I did enjoy, but not as much as the others. Filled with comedy, swashbuckling action, memorable characters, and mythical creatures, it’ll make it into the collection when it comes out on DVD, but it’s nowhere near as good as the other films.