Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D

Let me just say that I did not intend to see this in 3D, nor do I particularly suggest you do so.  I try to avoid 3D whenever possible, but because of technical difficulties at the theater that resulted in all of us lowly 2D seekers getting to see the movie in 3D for free I really had no choice.  Now, since I don't really ever go to 3D movies because I think it's just stupid and distracting and I never feel like I can properly focus on the screen, I'm just going to comment on the movie itself and not the 3D effects because I don't know how they compare to others and if they were really good or not.  I do know there were some pretty cool shots that the 3D captured beautifully (a neat stone arch, a view up through the rigging of a ship), but I certainly wouldn't pay extra money for those shots.
Anyway, after the first couple of minutes when the movie got going and the screen stopped looking all squiggly through the 3D glasses (without making me either nauseated or giving me a headache) I could finally relax and enjoy myself.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (to be called just Pirates 4 from now on, because jeez that's a long title) starts out with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) up to his usual tricks to save an old friend from a trial, in which he is accused of being... Captain Jack Sparrow.  And there is apparently another Captain Jack Sparrow out there trying to find a crew.  None of this is really addressed or explained, but it also doesn't really matter too much as it is basically only a conceit to reintroduce all of the characters and set them upon the main adventure.  There is action right from the start, accompanied by the fabulous Pirates theme music which serves to make every stunt seem that much more daring, and Depp's Sparrow swaggers with such floppy confidence that he somehow manages to turn his exceedingly poncy gait into something to be admired.

The movie takes place an unknown number of years after the previous 3 movies, and while we see a few familiar faces (most prominently Geoffrey Rush as Jack's nemesis Barbossa), most of the main characters from the earlier films are nowhere to be found.  And that's not all that's different.  Pirates 4 has also trimmed the fat from the plot lines, leaving the main story of the various characters' search for the Fountain of Youth.  Gone are any random subplots and the twisty turning abandonment of all logic or coherence or explanation that drowned Pirates 2 and 3.  Seriously - I've seen both of those movies several times (they're always showing up on cable somewhere) and I don't think I could tell you what happens in them if my life depended on it.  I'm not even sure, if you put one of them on right now, if I could tell whether it was #2 or #3.  So the streamlining of storytelling in #4 was more than welcome.

The other big difference from the first three movies, is that Jack Sparrow falls squarely into the side of the good guy.  Whereas before he wasn't necessarily evil, if always only looking towards his own desires, in this movie he is definitely less selfish.  I mean, in the very first scene he is rescuing an old shipmate which is not something we would have seen before, unless perhaps that shipmate owed him money.  I find the loss of the ambivalence in Sparrow's character (will he or won't he betray them?) a perfectly fine development, because honestly we always knew he'd never do anything truly terrible to anyone else.  And although the writers did try to hold on to it, showing him playing all sides against each other, there is less a feeling that he is doing it for amusement as opposed as strictly a way to survive.

And that could be because the bad guy in this movie is truly bad - Ian McShane plays Blackbeard with zero sense of humor and less patience.  Personally, I think a little bit more fun can be had in playing a villain, but he gets the point across that joking around with Blackbeard will only lead to a quick and even more quickly forgotten, death.  The final player in this outing is Blackbeard's daughter (Penelope Cruz), who is the least developed character.  She was supposedly about to become a nun when Sparrow seduced and fell in love with her.  This all makes sense then that her basic trust in faith would lead her to try and redeem her father with the fountain of youth - except I'm not really sure I would have known this back story if I hadn't read about it in advance reviews.  It was only referred to ever so subtly in the movie, and as such her insistence on saving her father rang a little hollow.  Plus, it seems such a shame to cast such a bombshell in a movie and not use her sex appeal even once (although understandable because I believe Cruz was pregnant during filming).

All in all this was a fun trip back into the fantastical world of Pirates of the Caribbean, and one I'd recommend.  And as usual, there is a little tidbit post credits if you feel like staying for it.  I will warn you that it is literally after the ENTIRE credits, so you'll be waiting for several minutes for about 30 seconds of scene which isn't really anything more than a wink.  No big secrets revealed or sequels hinted at, so decide on your own whether staying is worth it.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2 hrs 17 min  PG-13