Film Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Rating: 7/ 10 - Very Good

‘Ai Mate’, ‘Nay’, ‘Man over board’....all the pirate language, rum, dirty pirates, dirty ships, rough seas, sword fighting, and general pirate lives all in 137 minutes to make a brilliant pirate film. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth in this series, is a typical pirate film and extremely enjoyable.

Director: Rob Marshal. Screenplay: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott. Producers: Jerry BruckheimeCinematographer: Dariusz Wolski. Editor: Michael Kahn. Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Starring: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush. Running time: 137 minutes. Age Restriction: PG 13

We get to see the infamously hilarious Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) once again. He is still the same dirty pirate with the same pirate ways. This film has new characters in it, one of them being Angelica (played by Penelope Cruz) who is from Jack’s past and has a piece of Jack’s heart. Blackbeard (Ian Mcshane) and Captain Hector Barbossa (played by Geoffrey Rush) are once again on the screens in the pirate adventure.

The Spaniards fleet of ships, King George II’s ship led by Captain Hector Barbossa and Blackbeard’s ship along with second mate Angelica and Jack Sparrow as a captive all end up in a race to get to the Fountain of Youth. If two people drink from the Fountain of Youth, the one person will get all the years of the other person added onto their lifespan and the other would die immediately. For this to happen, they need to find two silver chalices and a mermaid’s tear.

Blackbeard is after the Fountain of Youth in order to survive a prophecy that he is to be killed by a one-legged man in a fortnight. He then strives for eternal life.

The hunt for the mermaids is an interesting one. One would expect a mermaid to be gentle and calm, but not in pirates land. These mermaids are quite evil and vicious, nothing at all like what you would expect. This hunt to capture one of these pirates gets quite intense.

After going through much trouble to get the tear and chalices all three troupes find their way to The Fountain. This is where some more fighting goes down two people manage to drink from The Fountain.

This is definitely worth being called a ‘Pirate’ film, although it may not be the best in its series. This film does not have much ‘sea’ time, the majority of the film is set in London before they set sails and then on the island where they are searching for The Fountain. The action scenes are all very similar, even the music in each action scene is the same.

This film is filmed in 3D and I honestly do not understand why. The only time you truly get the 3D effects is during the opening credits, the rest of the time you don’t even really notice that the film is in 3D. The film is good enough to stand on its own, without having to use the 3D effects to make it more appealing.

Verdict: This film is extremely enjoyable; if you love a good dose of pirate life then you should enjoy this film. It has the usual Jack Sparrow wit and the story line is interesting enough. The entire film is full of action and adventure, and worth two hours of your time. Watching it in 3D, however, is not worth the extra money. The 2D version will suffice.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is in cinemas now and is available in 3D at select venues.