Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Review

• 16th May 2011

Captain Jack is back for another adventure on the high seas. This time, in a rather muddled beginning, we find ourselves in Spain and then England to set up the quest for the fountain of youth. The Spaniards want to get there, as do the English (and their efforts are being headed up by the now privateer, Barbossa). But enter into the mix Penelope Cruz’s pirate and her father Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and the backstabbing begins as they all journey towards their goal.

Johnny Depp fits the part like a glove, and always will. He probably doesn’t even need a script to do Jack justice and the price of a ticket seems worth it just to watch him lumber around the screen. Geoffrey Rush also makes good on his return again – looking all the more decrepit than last time, even in a regal uniform.

Penelope Cruz’s English has always been a bit of a hassle for her. Like Jean-Claude Van Damme, she can speak the language but has trouble asserting the emotions and sincerity in what she’s saying. Therefore coming off like bad acting.

Ian McShane threatens to steal the limelight when he finally makes his appearance but once he’s established, the filmmakers don’t return to him often enough to give him any decent sort of background or continued threat, there’s far too many supporting characters getting in the way.

Some of the set pieces are worth their salt though – like the encounter with the mermaids which is equal to the walking dead pirates from the first film. (Although quite how mermaids have the ability to shoot webs like Spider-Man is beyond us?)

Other set pieces are not so successful – like the rafter-hopping fight Jack has with his presumed double near the beginning which is a terrible repeat of the fight he had with Orlando Bloom in the first film. Only that fight was a heck of a lot better.

The script is too long, with screen time being given to supporting characters we really couldn’t care less about. A romantic subplot with a couple of these isn’t fully captured to the extent it may have been but with so many nonsensical things happening on screen in the end you just throw your notes in the air and enjoy the ride as best you can.

If there’s one major complaint to make it’s the 3-D. Despite being fairly ineffectual as it is – the picture is sadly all the darker for it, and as the film is quite dark looking anyway, the 3-D glasses take it down a grade too much for you to truly enjoy what is on screen.

Still, the film never ceases to be fun even when it is repeating itself, and there are a couple of nice cameos from the ladies and gentleman of the UK to watch out for early on in the film.

Steven Hurst