Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Directed by Rob Marshal
“It’s a Pirate’s life for me. Savvy?”
Johnny Depp is back as the irrepressible Captain Jack Sparrow, returning for more booty, rum, and strange adventure in this fourth installment in the billion dollar franchise, although for a film with “Pirates of the Caribbean” in the title, maybe they could have spent a little more time in the Caribbean.
The story is loosely based on the wholly unremarkable novel, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, and finds Captain Jack meeting up with an ex-hoochie named Angelica, (Penelope Cruz) the daughter of the Pirate All Pirates Fear, the legendary Blackbeard himself (played with awesome scene-chewery, by Ian McShane). Soon Captain Jack finds himself once again in search of the Fountain of Youth (remember the last scenes in At World’s End? Well apparently the first search didn’t go so well as a short throwaway line attests), with the help of First Mate Gibbs (Kevin McNally), and returning fan-favorite Hector Barbossa, complete with rum-filled peg leg (played once again by the brilliant Geoffrey Rush).
A tighter story this time around, as well as fewer peripheral characters taking focus away from the mains does the flick good, however Jack’s ship the Black Pearl, a character unto itself, is conspicuous by its absence and only makes a “tiny” cameo as a ship in a bottle… who knows maybe she’ll be back in all her glory in the next flick. There seems top be a lot less sea-faring adventure in this flick than in previous ones, as the characters spend most of the film on dry land!
Be that as it may the flick is still a fun Piratical romp, Johnny Depp still rules the Pirate world with his portrayal of Captain Jack, the action is wonderfully over the top, and even Hans Zimmer’s overly loud and massively bombastic score, and Rob Marshal's mediocre directing didn’t manage to annoy me too much. I dug the flick and laugh in the faces of other “mainstream” reviewers like Ebert, who hated Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End claiming the stories were “too complex” for his popcorn-butter addled mind, but then bashes On Stranger Tides for not being complex enough! Ah well, all it proves is that you can’t please everyone, and admittedly this film isn’t for everyone anyway, but if you dig Pirates in general, and the misadventures of Captain Jack Sparrow in particular, then I absolutely recommend this flick.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides gets FOUR rum-soaked hearties out of FIVE.
Directed by Rob Marshal
“It’s a Pirate’s life for me. Savvy?”
Johnny Depp is back as the irrepressible Captain Jack Sparrow, returning for more booty, rum, and strange adventure in this fourth installment in the billion dollar franchise, although for a film with “Pirates of the Caribbean” in the title, maybe they could have spent a little more time in the Caribbean.
The story is loosely based on the wholly unremarkable novel, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, and finds Captain Jack meeting up with an ex-hoochie named Angelica, (Penelope Cruz) the daughter of the Pirate All Pirates Fear, the legendary Blackbeard himself (played with awesome scene-chewery, by Ian McShane). Soon Captain Jack finds himself once again in search of the Fountain of Youth (remember the last scenes in At World’s End? Well apparently the first search didn’t go so well as a short throwaway line attests), with the help of First Mate Gibbs (Kevin McNally), and returning fan-favorite Hector Barbossa, complete with rum-filled peg leg (played once again by the brilliant Geoffrey Rush).
A tighter story this time around, as well as fewer peripheral characters taking focus away from the mains does the flick good, however Jack’s ship the Black Pearl, a character unto itself, is conspicuous by its absence and only makes a “tiny” cameo as a ship in a bottle… who knows maybe she’ll be back in all her glory in the next flick. There seems top be a lot less sea-faring adventure in this flick than in previous ones, as the characters spend most of the film on dry land!
Be that as it may the flick is still a fun Piratical romp, Johnny Depp still rules the Pirate world with his portrayal of Captain Jack, the action is wonderfully over the top, and even Hans Zimmer’s overly loud and massively bombastic score, and Rob Marshal's mediocre directing didn’t manage to annoy me too much. I dug the flick and laugh in the faces of other “mainstream” reviewers like Ebert, who hated Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End claiming the stories were “too complex” for his popcorn-butter addled mind, but then bashes On Stranger Tides for not being complex enough! Ah well, all it proves is that you can’t please everyone, and admittedly this film isn’t for everyone anyway, but if you dig Pirates in general, and the misadventures of Captain Jack Sparrow in particular, then I absolutely recommend this flick.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides gets FOUR rum-soaked hearties out of FIVE.
