Just got back from seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and I have to say, my feelings on this caused quite a stir with the little group I went with. Let me begin by saying that the Pirates series is one of my all-time favorites (3rd on the list to be exact), and I went in wanting to love this. Unfortunately, I merely liked it. This is the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of this franchise. No, not just in that it is the fourth movie, but that it is the least of the previous four. This is still a very good movie, it is just that my standards for the series are so high, I expect a bit more from the installments. The writers based the story here on the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers instead of coming up with their own original tale this time out. Concentrating on the search for the Fountain of Youth, it's a race between the English, the Spanish, and the pirates to reach it first. Lots of the usual brawling, sword-centric action, and a lack of seagoing battles, this seems to be more of a pirate version of an Indiana Jones movie than a Pirates movie. Jack is portrayed as much more of a hero in this as opposed to the swashbuckling, carefree, greedy buccaneer role model for Will Turner from the first three. The character reveled in the attention, and without that, he comes off as a bit more careful in his actions, as a bit of remorse creeps in on past decisions. Don't get me wrong here, he is still bats**t crazy and will steal anything not nailed down. The addition of Blackbeard to the mix puts a second rival to Jack Sparrow's claim to fame, and seeing the way Barbossa, Jack and Blackbeard act together makes for a wonderful triangle of treachery (Axis of Evil was taken).
Watching Johnny Depp as Jack is like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers: you know what to expect, and won't be disappointed. Geoffrey Rush also returns as Barbossa, although his performance seems a bit more subdued and less "YAR HAR, MATEY." It was still fun. Ian McShane was downright creepy as Blackbeard. His performance was nowhere as over-the-top as one may have expected, and showed the audience that this was the guy that pirates were taught to fear. Penelope Cruz played Angelica, Blackbeard's daughter and one time interest of Jack. Not a real fan of hers, but she did a good job here.
A minor gripe for me (historically) was that the Fountain of Youth was supposedly in, what would now be, Florida. Jack's map at the end of At World's End seemed to confirm this. Could someone please tell me where in Florida the mountain range the pirate crew traipses across during the last third of the movie is? Most will argue with me here, but I enjoyed the first three more than this one. It was still fun, deserving of the franchise tag, and one of the best pirate movies made, but just didn't hold my imagination the way the others did. Worth a trip to the movies though. 8/10.
See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!
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