Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) Review

Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) returns for the fourth time in this journey to strange tides in search for the fountain of youth. But he is not the only one who is searching for it.

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Barbossa (Rush) is now working for the King of England and in charge of a quest to find the fountain of youth. Angelica (Cruz) who is an old love of Captain Jack is also searching for it, and manages to get him on the ship with her. The captain of that ship none other than Blackbeard (McShane) who turns out to be her father.

As usual the film starts at a very fast pace with Captain Jack having to escape being in jail and being hung for being a pirate. He always seems to do this so well, brilliant the different ways they manage to come up with. After breaking free he decides to find out who is impersonating him trying to get a crew together for a ship. This turns out to be Angelica.

We do not get their story together right away, but we do get to find out that they do indeed have a history of some sort together. It’s not until later that we actually find out that he was in fact in love with her, yes that’s right Captain Jack and love!

Full of the fantastic funny lines we have come to love from the Pirates franchise and funny actions from Captain Jack this film does not disappoint at all. This time we have no Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) or Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) who aren’t really a big miss in the end. After all these films have always been about Captain Jack. But without those two characters the story was lacking a love story, we find this in the form of a missionary who ends up a sailor and a mermaid. Although I did not really find much point in that part of the story, other than a distraction from the main parts.

Johnny Depp really cannot be beaten in his portrayal of Captain Jack, has to be one of the best characters ever in cinema. Such a joy to watch, you just know he is going to be brilliant and make you laugh all at the same time. So good that they can still manage to come up with a good script to keep the magic alive.

I really did enjoy this film from start to finish. Thought the storyline was very good and the film kept flowing at a good pace. While still keeping in the now tradition of these films and had double-crossing going on mainly from Captain Jack. I love the chemistry he has with fellow pirate Barbossa and think Rush’s performance was also brilliant again. Looking even more like a pirate with a wooden leg now as well. You can guess who is responsible for him now having one leg, yes that’s right Blackbeard! That leads us to newcomer Ian McShane who really made Blackbeard his own in another very good performance. Penelope Cruz provided a very good strong female character who worked so well with Depp, with the chemistry between them and her nature of being very tough.

I think they really have brought the franchise back to it’s best in this film, as the previous film is not very memorable at all. I did not see this film in 3D, went for the normal version. Didn’t think it would be worth the 3D effort (not a 3D fan at all).

I for one hope that we see Captain Jack for the fifth time . . . Captain Hook anyone?