On Stranger Tides? Strange is Right

Well hello,

Having left this a little longer than I planned what with jobsearching and just in general living it up as I'm akin to doing these days, I finally figured it time I got around to letting whoever wants to know what I thought about the latest in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and be aware that I have not seen this in 3D so can't comment on how that worked out.

Where Do I Start?

Well I suppose the logical place is to mention what my first impressions were and to be honest, not that great really, I mean, sure it had Johnny Depp once again as Captain Jack Sparrow, but something was missing in terms of the repartee that I found so enjoyable with him, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) & Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) going back and forth with their arguments that just wasn't there in number four.

Don't get me wrong, I think it was interesting...

I suppose it was only natural for Disney to want to honour the ending they created after 'At Worlds End', the marathon film that, unlike some other people, I actually found riveting and enjoyable right up until the closing credits. For me, I think this was one step too far due to not being able to get certain people to turn in for another installment due to reasons I'm sure we're all aware of as they were made public at the time.

One thing I will say though, having Captain Barbossa "working" for the British fleet was a stretch too far even for my imagination (before you say it, I know it was all part of his plan to behave as some kind of naval double agent) because he always struck me as a mean s.o.b. who'd get what he wanted and make sure no one stood in his way. Look at his treatment of Jack Sparrow for further evidence that the relationship between them was a necessary evil more than anything as a lot of the dialect in the early films talked of their rivalry as one stole the ship from the other and over who was the 'real' owner of such a vessel.

All in all, the story was not so much what I had the problem with as it was a reasonably enjoyable affair... it just appeared to me like Sparrow had to carry the film (or a good deal of it anyway) in order to get it where it wanted to go; the Fountain of Youth.

Final Verdict

I could go on about this film more... but I think I've said enough and more than I'm prepared to say without being impolite and harsh so therefore it's time for my rating

*** & 1/2 stars

Magical it may have been meant to appear, but lacked the sparkle of the original films and just felt more like a tacked on sequel than a true homage due to lack of main characters from the original trilogy.

Peace out,
S.R. Cook