Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) by Jari K — 16 Jul 2014

On Stranger Tides seems more of a slight rehash of the first movie, The Black Pearl, rather than an original film. Except with slightly less threatening villains and much less gripping action.

The casting of Penelope Cruz as Angelica was very puzzling, since she is apparently the daughter of Blackbeard who is played by the British Ian McShane.

As for McShane... He could have put much more effort into his role. He lets Depp take over the scenes easily and his presence is messy to be brutally honest. Which is a disappointment, considering how magnificent his entrance to the film was. His soundtrack is the most booming and threatening I've ever heard in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but he fails conclusively to own up to that after the echo of his big entrance has stopped reverberating.

McShane's crew of undead could have also added more to the plot, which is just chasing after the Fountain of Youth in the manner of a headless chicken strolling through a jungle. It doesn't feel very in depth.

The movie in and of itself seems like a minor effort in contrast to the previous epics "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End", masterpieces of pirate fantasy in my book. This film is an enormous step down in regards to the tone. Depp mostly controls the scenes and it really feels like Jack Sparrow is the main focus of this movie, as opposed to its predecessors in which there were multiple protagonists who were treated as just as valuable to the plot as Sparrow himself. This makes it feel very empty. It wasn't only Depp that held the previous movies together, Rob Marshall!

And when I said this film seemed like a slight rehash of the first movie, I meant that in regards to the settings. They are quite unimaginative and they could have done so much more with them. Especially when McShane's crew of the undead and Depp stroll through the jungle. I almost fell asleep at that part. The scenes that are supposed to be suspenseful fall very flat due to their predictability.

The ending is also slightly anticlimactic and disappointing. It was cookie-cutter "villain pays his dues, comic relief happens, ambiguous ending leaves room for sequel." I don't hate the movie, but I can't praise it, or recommend it. It feels like an unnecessary chapter.

I'd like to put the blame on the director for putting up such a half-assed job, but it also feels like the actors were tired of the franchise. All I can hope is that after its 5 year break, the new Pirates of the Caribbean can again offer something new.