The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, based on the 1967 amusement park ride at Disney theme parks, is a hugely grossing film series, bringing in an estimated $2.7 billion and counting.
In 2003, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was released and gained unexpected acclaim. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, which inspired producer Jerry Bruckheimer to ‘ride the wave’ for as long as possible.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” was then released in 2006 and had great commercial success, despite its weak plot. In 2007, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” followed suit.
Proving that no matter the decline of a once-great film series the followers will stay true, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” was just released despite the fact that “At World’s End” was intended to wrap up the series.
“On Stranger Tides” follows Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to London where he is on the hunt for someone pretending to be him as they put a crew together to sail to the Fountain of Youth.
Once in London, Jack is summoned by King George and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Jack’s former nemesis, to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish do. He also finds that the impostor is Angelica (Penelope Cruz), one of Jack’s former lovers and daughter of Blackbeard (Ian McShane), a notorious pirate.
Blackbeard forces Jack to join his and Angelica’s crew so he can find the Fountain of Youth and avoid letting a prophecy come true. And so starts the rat race to the Fountain of Youth and the long, tedious journey that is “On Stranger Tides.”
“On Stranger Tides” has a completely different feel to it than its predecessors. This is because unlike the first three Pirates films that were directed by Gore Verbinski, this one is directed by Rob Marshall.
Now, this isn’t a bad thing, unless you make the mistake of seeing it in 3-D.
Something the Pirates of the Caribbean films always had going for them was the fantastic, Academy Award-winning graphics. These are completely butchered by having them pop out of the screen and give the newest film a certain tackiness that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
In addition to the change in directors and the added 3-D viewing option, there’s another huge part setting this installment apart from the others: the absence of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley).
Granted, with the end of “At World’s End,” it would be difficult to write them into the next film, but tossing out two of the four main characters is surely puts a damper on a series. It is especially hard to accept Cruz as the new dame, sexy in a completely different way than Knightley.
Something that is to be said for “On Stranger Tides,” is that leading man Depp hasn’t lost his touch through the decline of the series. There is something undeniably appealing about his eyeliner-wearing, dreadlock donning, drunken pirate swagger. His witty banter with Cruz and Rush keeps audiences entertained even after the two-hour mark and the fourth repetitive sword fight, chase scene combination we’ve seen in every movie.
Rush keeps the audience guessing whether Sparrow can trust Barbossa or not, while McShane is convincing as the ruthless pirate who has been featured in tales for years.
The acting in “On Stranger Tides” is definitely the film’s strongest suit. Depp, Rush, Cruz, McShane and company are as funny, sinister or sultry as they have to be, going above and beyond expectations.
The long, drawn out plot, however, couldn’t be saved by even the best actors.
Though “On Stranger Tides” can manage to hold attention, it won’t have that “edge-of-your seat” effect that was apparent at the beginning of the series.
Gentlemen, milady, you will always remember this as the day that you were almost entertained by the Pirates of the Caribbean.
