Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) by Cody L — 18 Feb 2013

I know this was by fairly large acclamation the worst of the series. But I think this one came closest to capturing the wonder of the first film. It has its weak spots certainly, the subplot with the Spanish fleet made absolutely no sense, given that they were shown as being crucial in the opening scene.

It appeared to set them up as a major enemy, but the ultimate confrontation(if you can call it that) was dissapointing. But really, the latest sequel more than any since the first recaptured that sense of wonder the first had.

Johnny Depp is as humourous as ever, no Will and Elizabeth undertoning the movie with romance, and a great cast. Ian McShane's Blackbeard is haunting, in my opinion right up with Barbossa in the first film as the series best villain, and most important in my opinion, the wonder.

The middle two films lost that, involving Jack running for his life, and then ultimately trying to hard to set up an epic finale. On Stranger Tides returns to a more traditional plotline, a pirate on a search.

While this may be simple, it's that sense of adventurous wonder that made the first film so great, and the last two weaker. Overall I thought this revitalized the series and was the best since the orginal, highly reccomend.