By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Such an excess amount of piracy has been wrung out of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise that assessing this fourth installment can be reduced to movie-sequel math.
By Peter Mountain,, Disney Enterprises
Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) attempts a quick getaway in 'On Stranger Tides.' He also swings from chandeliers and battles blood-sucking mermaids.
By Peter Mountain,, Disney Enterprises
Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) attempts a quick getaway in 'On Stranger Tides.' He also swings from chandeliers and battles blood-sucking mermaids.
Here's how it goes down: 4 is better than 3, about the same as 2 and worse than 1.
The maiden voyage of Pirates of the Caribbean was an undeniably fresh surprise back in 2003. But the sequels have felt, in varying degrees, as soggy as a ship's planks after a storm.
This time, Penelope Cruz joins the buccaneers as a crafty and sensual pirate. One thing is clear: Cruz, as the spirited Angelica, and Johnny Depp, as mincing Captain Jack Sparrow, have far better chemistry than Depp did with Angelina Jolie in last year's dreadful The Tourist.
Depp does his best to breathe life in a gasping-for-air role that once felt inspired. He seems to have more fun than in the last couple go-rounds, and his wit is sharper. But the script doesn't add colors to the characters. Geoffrey Rush, as Captain Barbossa, goes through the motions. The limitations of the role seem all the more obvious after watching his nuanced portrayal of the speech therapist in The King's Speech.
It should be noted that at 2 hours and 17 minutes, this is the shortest of the four movies. Score points for new director Rob Marshall (Chicago), replacing Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three. Marshall's choreographic skills are an asset, particularly in staging an early, exciting chase sequence where Sparrow nimbly eludes King George II (Richard Griffiths). The world's favorite pirate dangles from ropes, swings on chandeliers and leaps atop carriages. Later, he has a lively swordfight with Angelica, who we learn is an old flame.
Jack has lost his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, and is intent on getting it back. Others around him are bent on finding the Fountain of Youth. The two goals converge. Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and a crew of zombies figure into the proceedings. Despite these baddies, the voyage to reach the fountain grows listless.
Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides
* * out of four
Stars: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane
Director: Rob Marshall
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence, some frightening images, sensuality and innuendo
Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Opens Friday nationwide
Women play a bigger part than in episodes 1-3. Pirates are menaced by bloodsucking mermaids ? for those whose taste for screen vampires simply can't be satiated.
Another departure from the first three movies: Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom are nowhere to be found. But there is a love story involving young hotties, specifically missionary Philip (Sam Claflin) and Syrena (Astrid Berg�s-Frisbey), a less-bloodthirsty mermaid. She is taken prisoner by the pirates because her tears activate the Fountain of Youth. Did we mention the story is nonsensical?
This is the first of the franchise shot in 3-D, but those glasses come into play only about five times, when swords get brandished directly into the camera.
Familiar and predictable, this Pirates reboot is often incoherent and crammed with pointless details. The more sequels spun off, the clearer it becomes that one movie about these swashbucklers would have sufficed.
Lokelani McMichael Lily Allen Rachel Hunter Emma Watson Victoria Silvstedt
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