![]() ![]() Between Rush and McShane, the film finds its sea legs and brandishes some of the scene-chewing flair the Pirates films are known for. The real spotlight, then, turns to Geoffrey Rush, as series mainstay Captain Barbosa, and casting coup Ian McShane, who fills the role of the most merciless Pirates villain to date: the scourge of the seven seas himself, Blackbeard. But when he appears in nearly every single scene, it isn't long before the dear dreadlocked cap'n wears out his welcome. Don't get me wrong, Depp's Jack Sparrow is a brilliant creation an iconic swashbuckling opportunist who's every bit as funny, charming and devious as he ever was. Johnny Depp? It seems good ol' Captain Jack earned himself a promotion, albeit to the detriment of the franchise. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley? Nowhere to be found. ![]() "Better to not know which moment may be your last! It's a pirate's life for me, savvy?" I'm sure it all sounded exciting on paper - castle escapes, London carriage chases, zombies, Captain Jack teaming up with Captain Barbosa, flame-spewing ships, Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge, mermaid attacks, Ponce de Leon's lost ship, the Fountain of Youth - but, with fish-out-of-water director Rob Marshall ( Chicago, Nine) at the helm, the fourth Pirates film gets lost at sea. On the contrary, it's slower, duller, more cumbersome, more distended, and more unnecessary and extraneous than both Pirates sequels combined. Yet somehow, by some strange fate, voodoo incantation or pirate's curse, On Stranger Tides isn't the return to form we were promised. But everyone from producer Jerry Bruckheimer to leading man Johnny Depp approached the fourth film with the same candid assurance: On Stranger Tides wasn't just a relaunch designed to recapture the magic of the first film, it was an apology of sorts for having sailed into such muddy sequel waters. But there were so many competing plots, subplots and sub-subplots, not to mention double, triple and quadruple crosses, that neither one thrilled or entertained audiences as much as Pearl. While The Curse of the Black Pearl was an absolute blast, Dead Man's Chest amounted to a bloated, beached corpse and At World's End was little more than a flashy misfire. I had high hopes for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, October 8, 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-ray Review Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-ray ![]()
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