Daily Archives: May 22, 2011
Reviews: Pirates of the Caribbean; On Stranger Tides
Strange Tides Indeed. . .
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has always been full of action and adventure. It's had wonderful storylines that took you the moviegoer to strange and exotic locales and had you cheering on your favorite characters as you got to know them through their personalities, quirks and flaws. It's great over the top sequences, witty banter between familiar protagonists and antagonists, plot twists and triumphs have made it a must see summer blockbuster franchise. But Stranger Tides falls short in a few areas that keep it from living up to it's full potential.
On Stranger Tides is a story about the search for the fountain of youth. The story starts with Jack being recruited to lead an expedition to find Ponce De Leone's fabled fountain, but he's not the only one searching for the treasure. The famous pirate Blackbeard is also searching for the magical fountain to avoid a prophecy which sees him dead at the hands of a one legged man. And yet a third party sets out to find the Spanish adventurers bounty intent on keeping the fountain from being misused by ner-do-wells. In the process, Jack comes across an old flame who he has unfinished business with. The film has it's usual "Pirates" formula of plot twists, betrayal, and overall adventurous fun.
The movie is packed with new faces as some of the familiar ones from the franchises' past did not return. Gone are Will Turner(Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann(Keira Knightley). Along with other secondary characters like the lovable, bumbling first mates Pintel and Ragetti, or the pint sized Marty the midget. These absences play a big part as the movie is a bit long and at times slows down to a snails pace. This problem is brought to the forefront when the main characters who you've come to love aren't on screen. When a franchise that's in it's fourth outing changes most of it's winning cast, its hard to feel a connection with the new players in a two hour timespan. At times I watched the movie with a lack of interest because you didn't care about who the new people were or what was happening to them. The performances were good but a lack of connection with new faces caused a discord.
Returning to reprise his role as lovable Captain Jack Sparrow is the ever charismatic Johnny Depp, who gives his usual spot on performance. Also returning, Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa, Jacks on again off again partner and rival for the rule of the coveted Black Pearl pirate ship. Kevin McNally reprises his role as Gibbs, Jack Sparrow's trusty sidekick. One of the new faces this time around is Penelope Cruz who play Angelica, a lovely mysterious female pirate with ties to Jacks past. Also new to the franchise is Ian McShane who gives an inspired performance as the famed pirate, Blackbeard. In the end, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has a good story and great performances from the old staples. It even gives you new faces to get to know but the overall lack of friendly faces from past Pirates movies leaves this movie with just a mediocre rating.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides gets 2 1/2 stars review by Lethal Bhudda
Other Editor's Rating: 3 1/2 stars review by Apple
