Viewed in
2012
Formats
DVD
Premise
Johnny Depp stars in the fourth installment of the franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa seek the Fountain of Youth.
Liked
Nothing.
Disliked
Wasted talent.
Thoughts
Meh.
The entire movie felt like it was going through the motions. Depp had his moments of hilarity, as did Richard Griffiths in a small role. As a testament to Geoffrey Rush's acting abilities, he chewed up some scenes so well, but you could also see in his eyes that he was basically on auto-pilot. The new faces brought nothing to the table. Ian McShane was non-threatening and Penelope Cruz was outsexied (I just made that up) by a mermaid.
Meanwhile, none of the action set pieces had any creativity or goofy charm. Sure, the production value was top-notch and had some swashbuckling stuff, but to put it bluntly, they were forgettable. And the Spanish conquistador subplot was just random.
So yeah, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides lacked the goofy charm of the first film, the hilarious over-the-top action sequences of the second, and the mind-boggling visual effects of the third. Am I missing anything else? Oh yeah, Rodrigo y Gabriela were underused in the score.
