FILM REVIEW: Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Strange Tides

Release Date: 18/05/11

SYNOPSIS:

Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise. When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love or if she’s a ruthless con artist using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.


REVIEW:

OK, I’m a huge fan of the Pirates Franchise as I love the character of Captain Jack Sparrow. Add to this the return of old friend Hector Barbossa and First Mate Gibbs and it should have been a reuniting of characters that would set the tone for the newer members of the cast (Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz) to rise to.

What actually unfurled was a tale that whilst it contained some of the magic from the previous films lost something with the script. Jack wasn’t as crazy or as funny as usual and Barbossa was sadly downbeat and not his usual full steam ahead pig-headed stubborn self. Add to this that the script writers had changed and I feel that the new arrivals to the scene could have done a lot more to maintain the standards of the other films.

Don’t get me wrong it is still a lot of fun, but without the characters being as strong as previous they really need to do something special for the rumoured fifth and sixth films. With luck Jack’s gold lust from the first will reappear and he’ll go after El Dorado possibly even so far as sword fights on poles sticking up from the lava as well as taking on some of the old Aztec Gods (well we did have the Kraken,) this way he could fight against Echecatl (for the jewels that control the wind as mentioned in this film), Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent) as well as having to face down Cihuacoatl (woman serpent) who could be a Medusa type of creature. Thus exploring a lot of original myths as we all know Jack loves a story or two. With luck it would bring things back on form and if they manage to return the Pearl to full size it would give an adventure the likes of which hasn’t been explored before. With luck Jerry will also bring back the original writers as things could quite easily go south if the characters aren’t brought back to their magnificent form of previous outings. (Incidentally Jerry, I am available. LOL)

All in reasonable and the new cast did the best with what they had but for me it was too much about Dry Land and not enough sea faring buccaneering that many will come to expect from this series.