Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

It's perhaps fitting that On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, is centered around the search for the Fountain of Youth. After all, every film franchise that hits its fourth entry is starting to look kind of tired by this point, and is in desperate need of revitalization. Oddly enough, here it's the old that works better than the new. Although it doesn't hold the same spark of inspiration that it once did, Johnny Depp's off-kilter antihero, Captain Jack Sparrow, still manages to hold our attention with his one-liners and facial expressions that give the sense that the character is not really understanding much of anything going on around him, if he even understands anything at all.

Even though Jack's story was supposed to have ended with 2007's At World's End, it's not surprising to see him making a return appearance, especially when you consider how producer Jerry Bruckheimer's last few films for Disney (Prince of Persia and The Sorcerer's Apprentice) died at the box office. Not only has Depp's most famous character been revived to ensure at least one big weekend for the studio, but his part has been expanded, as he now pretty much drives the entire movie. The lovebirds from the past films, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner (played in the past by Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom), are now gone, as are most of the cast from the first three movies. The increasingly complex plot from before has also been jettisoned in favor of a much simpler one involving a race to find the Fountain of Youth. All well and good. However, despite the new approach, returning screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio end up making some of the same mistakes.

On Stranger Tides is still much longer than it needs to be, and feels needlessly padded out at times with needless exposition. (Though, mercifully, the film is shorter than the previous sequels.) The movie also feels bloated at times, with action sequences that are cluttered and edited at a much too rapid pace, while a bombastic score by Hans Zimmer wails in the background trying to create excitement, but simply comes across as being annoying at times. There is a new romantic subplot, this time between a Christian missionary (Sam Claflin) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), whose magical tears are needed to activate the power of the Fountain of Youth. However, much like the romance in the first three films between Will and Elizabeth, the romance is bone-dry and never engaging, due to the fact that the characters in that romance are largely dullards. Even the presence of a new director doesn't help matters much. Rob Marshall (Chicago), taking over for Gore Verbinski, shoots the movie with a murky lens, which is bad enough in 2D (which is how I saw the film), and I imagine an absolute pain in 3D.

For all of the movie's gloom and dull romantic subplots, it is Johnny Depp that once again arrives to save the day, and turns On Stranger Tides into a passable summer entertainment. Yes, it's true, he's only back because he was offered an insane paycheck, but whatever they paid him, it's worth it, because he makes the film worth watching at least once. The early scenes, which finds Jack in the presence of King George (Richard Griffiths) and his old nemesis, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), is like a virtuoso lesson in delicious scenery chewing. It's great fun, as is his daring escape on the streets of London. We get another cameo by Keith Richards as Jack's father, who manages to get the film's best line. ("Do I look like someone who's found the Fountain of Youth?") This kicks off the plot, where Jack finds himself reunited with a woman from his past named Angelica (Penelope Cruz). She's the daughter of the infamous pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), and is trying to help her father find the legendary Fountain. Barbossa is looking for it as well, for reasons of his own, with the help of the King's naval fleet. There's also a Spanish fleet involved in the race to find it first. All of this is an excuse for a lot of big action sequences, special effects, and for Jack Sparrow to comment on everything with his usual dry and nonchalant wit.

This is pretty much Jack's show, and if the movie works at all despite its numerous shortcomings, it's because of it. I suppose your opinion of this movie will vary on your feelings of the character. If you have grown sick of Jack (as I know many have), this movie will probably be torture. The performance still worked for me, though. Yes, it's not as fresh as it once was, but Depp's heart is still in the portrayal. Everything else surrounding him is bombastic mediocrity. The mermaids who sing siren songs then drag unfortunate men to a watery grave, the zombies that wander about Blackbeard's ship, the complicated and murky relationship between Jack and Angelica (the movie never seems sure what light to portray Angelica, so it tries a different approach with each scene)...All of this is second. Geoffrey Rush gets some fun moments too, so at least Depp isn't alone. This is a summer movie that works in fits and starts. It hits upon something that works, then kind of coasts along, then hits upon something else, only to coast along some more. It's uneven, but at least there's a sign of life.

I know this doesn't read like the most glowing review, but for a fourth movie in a franchise that probably should have ended four years ago, it's really not that bad. I guess the key to getting the most out of On Stranger Tides is to lower your expectations. If you want to see Jack Sparrow up on the big screen one more time, or simply need a in-one-ear, out-the-other summer entertainment, this will do well enough. But if you're waiting for a summer blockbuster that will knock you out of your seat, I'm afraid your search is still on.

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