Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides review:

The fourth installment of the movie franchise, On Stranger Tides starts off with action as Jack Sparrow (Depp) is captured while trying to save his first mate Gibbs from a hanging. He meets up with his friend, or is it enemy, Barbossa (Rush) . Jack makes a daring escape and after chased through the streets, he eventually gets away and later meets with an old flame Angelica (Cruz) who is impersonating Sparrow. This is about the time the 2 ½ hour movie starts to drag and we are wrapped in a web of plots, or patches one could say.

While there are plenty of sword slashing fights, it gets redundant as we start asking ourselves where is all this going? Still along the way we meet zombies and mermaids and a new relationship that tries to patch up where Bloom and Keira Knightly are missing. Though there is some romantic angle added with Depp and Cruz, the sub plot between a mermaid and a missionary takes the spot light.

We find out a string of plots including Barbossa seeking revenge on Blackbeard (McShane), who was the one that sent Angelica to lure and capture Jack Sparrow. Blackbeard also knows a bit of voodoo and controls his ship through mystical powers by way of his sword. We learn that Angelica wants to save Blackbeard’s soul because we find out he is her father. Jack Sparrow still has secret feelings for Angelica and commits to the journey in order to save her. Finally with all the sub plots out the way we get back to the main story.

One of the big problems is with the characters. Are they truly villains or are they the good guys? Also, the movie had a weak trap or idea to keep the story going. Why the race to find the fountain of youth, what is at stake for the good guys. Sure Blackbeard wants it because Barbossa, the one legged pirate, is going to slay him, but that doesn’t change if you have eternal youth, you can still get stabbed in the heart and die. The stakes of the story, especially in the middle, needed to be raised. To make a good movie, you never want to fall back to action or conflicts of equal or lesser value than the one before.

Jack Sparrow as the main protagonist lacks the ability to be a true hero and therefore the story also drags because of motivation from him. Though, he may be funny and makes a great supporting character, he needs hero qualities.

After all this, at the end of the movie, which I assume we were supposed to be interested in what would happen between Jack and Angelica, we are left with a less than romantic ending. If Jack Sparrow will never settle down, why do we even care what happens, it seemed all pointless for all the trouble Jack goes through to save Angelica, or out of character, when he is just going to abandon her on an island.

All in all, the movie was way too long with way to much talking and sub plots. It needed to focus more on the central plot of the story. The action the movie did have, was tame and there needed to be more hints of danger. The characters just seem immortal and viewers are going to sense this eventually.

Written by Spiffycats

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Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Trailer