Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The story was over, Jack Sparrow rode off into the sunset and the trilogy ended with most of the loose ends tied up. But for a franchise as successful as Pirates of the Caribbean, it’s not over until Disney says it’s over. So Johnny Depp returns as Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa and almost everyone else is ditched for a new tighter film. That film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has a race to the mythical fountain of youth. Sparrow finds himself a hostage of Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his first mate (Penelope Cruz) who use him to for his knowledge of the fountain’s location. Meanwhile Barbossa, who is now employed as a privateer for the British Royal Navy, is trying to out-sprint the Spanish to the prize.

Don’t be misled by the overlapping stories, On Stranger Tides is clearly Jack Sparrow’s movie. The first half rarely sees a scene without him. But since it’s so much fun watching Depp’s performance as the unpredictable pirate, this proves to be a successful attribute of the film. In some of the rare Sparrow-less moments, a romance develops between a young religious man (Sam Claflin) and a captive mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey). Both characters grow to be likeable, though the storyline never materializes to more than a romantic cameo, and a reminder of how much we miss Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley’s Will and Elizabeth. One character I’m glad remained is Barbossa, who is more of a stereotypical pirate than the anti-hero, Jack Sparrow. With a new peg leg in tow, Rush ups his performance as the likeable villain and shows why his character survived the purge between movie three and four.

This is very much a Pirates film, with all the fun aspects of the originals. Addressing the fountain of youth and bringing on Blackbeard adds another layer of pirate lore to the saga, which is important in order to stay relevant. Making the film self-contained proves to be the best approach for this add-on to the trilogy. While some characters and situations benefit from the audience’s past knowledge, a new fan could easily jump straight into On Stranger Tides. Unfortunately, it seems that even a different director couldn’t help the series’ constant trend of seeming incredibly drawn out. (8.1 out of 10)