Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Starring Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Ian McShane

Directed by Rob Marshall

After the absolutely dismal third chapter in the Pirates series, At World's End, it wasn't going to take much to make the fourth film better.  Fortunately, On Stranger Tides leaves the dankness and crazed mysticism aside (for the most part) and after an incredibly shaky opening hour during which at one point I turned to my brother and said "this is godawful and painful," the film actually becomes pretty entertaining and fulfills its mission of being a decent action-comedy.

As is the case with all of these Pirates films, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) manages to input himself into some scheme to gain access/control/possession of some mystical object -- in this case the Fountain of Youth -- and partakes in some double-crossing to get what he wants.  In this fourth film, the writers thankfully cast aside the dead weight of Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann and Orlando Bloom's Will Turner and place the focus solely on Jack Sparrow and his relationship with former partner-in-crime/"lover" Angelica (played gamely by Penelope Cruz).  Whereas in the past, I felt too much Jack Sparrow might wear thin, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this may have been my favorite movie for Johnny Depp as Sparrow.  I genuinely liked his wordplay with Cruz's Angelica and found the duo quite appealing, bringing a sexy vibe to the flick that we haven't seen in the previous films.

While Depp and Cruz certainly helped elevate the film, for some reason, the writers felt the need to input some inane romance into the mix between two newly introduced characters -- "man of the cloth" Philip (Sam Claflin) and mermaid Serena (Astrid Berges-Frisby).  This forced love story by these one-note actors was so bland (particularly when placed against the witty lovey-dovey bickering between Depp and Cruz), it made Knightley and Bloom seem like amazing thespians.

Of course, without the mermaids in the mix, we wouldn't have been treated to what might possibly be the most exciting action sequence yet in a Pirates film.  The introduction of the mermaids about an hour into the movie kicked this movie into high gear and it never really stopped its momentum.  Prior to that, On Stranger Tides seemed like a lesser retread of the first Pirates flick, even going so far as to seemingly re-create the very first action sequence in that first movie when Sparrow fights Will Turner in his shop/warehouse, climbing up to the rafters amidst seemingly endless swordplay.  Honestly, this flick was kind of unbearable in the first hour simply because I couldn't help but feel like every single thing reeked of a "been there, done that" sensation.

In the end, it's kind of a shame that nearly half of the film doesn't work (and doesn't work so badly) because the half that does work is actually some of the best the Pirates series has to offer.  Yes, there are certainly problems that the writers will have to work out in the upcoming movies (for starters, there's no need to continue telling us about the love story between the religious man and the mermaid), but there's an excellent base to build off with the amusing connection between Depp and Cruz and I've got to say that despite the rating below, I'm actually looking forward to the next flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+