Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) by Ryder M — 12 Jun 2015

I consider this film an improvement on the previous instalment. While far from the astounding quality of the first film, its reduction of the main characters to Captain Jack and Barbossa, cutting out the Will and Elizabeth plotlines, for which I never cared, was an excellent decision.

I did feel that the premise of a cursed and magical Blackbeard was truly bizarre, particularly in that they picked a real person for the villain and included him in a way which expects the viewer to completely ignore their knowledge of his actual story.

The secondary plot involving a young man and a mermaid was poorly spliced in, and rarely made much sense or related to the main plot. Despite its shortcomings, it was a more simple film, not as dark as the last one, and on the whole a very fun and enjoyable movie.

I look forward to the next one.