Jack is back... unfortunately.
Although Pirates 4 may of been enjoyable to the uninformed masses, to people in the know, it was a difficult film to enjoy.
The fourth in the swashbuckling series tells the story of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) going back to sea to locate the mysterious Fountain of Youth. Jack is joined by Angelica (Penelope Cruz) who plays Blackbeard's (Ian McShane) daughter. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) has now joined the Kings navy and has also been sent to find the Fountain of Youth before Captain Jack, Blackbeard and The Spanish.
Ok, I will admit I wasn't excepting too much from this film when I walked into the cinema, and It didn't disappoint me. It's just so boring. Although there is the main story of the gang going in search for the fabled Fountain of Youth, not a lot happens to keep you entertained, unless you are easily entertained. There are lots of explosions and sword fights but they are all basically the same just in a different location. Even though the first sword fight when Jack fights Angelica was pretty much identical to the first film when Jack meets Will (Orlando Bloom)
The film defiantly had the look of a Pirates film and sounded like a Pirates film with Jack coming out with some good-ish one liners, but the film didn't feel like a Pirates film and the reason is the director. Pirates 4 is the first Pirates film not to have Gore Verbinski in the directors seat. The job was instead given to Rob Marshall, whose previous films include the musicals Nine and Chicago. When Marshall was first confirmed, it did worry me, simply because he has a background in musicals.
There was a lot to dislike in this film. Blackbeard has a fire breathing pirate ship which brought a fantasy feel to an otherwise historical adventure. The gang come across Mermaids on their journey and for some reason, the Mermaids are vampires, I can't help but to think that they are vampires just because we, unfortunately, live in a Twilight obsessed culture. One last big problem I had was, why have they decided to turn Barbossa into Long John Silver, with a wooden leg? Barbossa was a perfectly good and interesting character, so why change him? Another casting problem was The black Pearl was stuck in a bottle all the way through, it is as much a character in the first three as Jack and Barbossa.
Stephen Graham was a welcomed breath of fresh air throughout and seemed to interact well with Johnny Depp.
Jack's trickery at the end of the film when he saves Angelica's life and kills Blackbeard, after saying it was the other way round was very predictable.
Personally I think the Pirates franchise has outstayed its welcome on our screens. News that Tim Burton may be directing Pirates 5 makes me think, this is only because the producers want Johnny Depp to return and getting Burton in the director's chair will undoubtedly help Depp sign on.
The best thing about seeing this film was the fact that I got to see the trailers for Super 8 and Cowboys and Aliens on the big screen.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 2/5
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