Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

In the newest edition of the incredibly profitable blockbuster series, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) - undoubtedly the “face” of a prominent brand that the “Pirates of the Caribbean” has become over the years - is searching for a water source of life, however this time without the heroic Will Turner and pugnacious Elizabeth Swann. Also, a few of the notable supporting pirates aren't present in the cast line-up. From the old crew only Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Mr. Gibbs (Kelvin McNally) remain. On the other hand however, we have a whole new line-up of new characters – a bad captain, his attractive daughter, a confident priest, a few mermaids, a drunken sailor (not exactly groundbreaking), pirate zombies, stiff Spanish defenders of their beliefs, an obese English king.

Rob Marshall's “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” heightens and rejuvenates the saga's standard after the soaked in pathos final addition to the trilogy, though doesn't quite compare to the fresh and innovative “Curse of the Black Pearl.” In the most recent motion picture there are a lot less fantasy elements, a noticeable lack of batalistic scenes riddled with special effects, though the trademark sense of humor isn't lost. A few diamonds in the rough can be observed – the showdown between the two Sparrows, the Russian Roulette scene with Blackbeard, or Jack's and Barbossa's snatching of the two important objects from the Spanish's hands. However, the movie doesn't keep that high a standard and very often evokes mixed feelings, giving us the hot and cold treatment – either by the unsolicited rush of events or the banal philosophical-religious issues. Hans Zimmer's soundtrack sounds great. In truth, the German decides to reach for well-known motives from the movie's predecessors without changing their arrangement and because of this the audience could feel bored or a sense of repetition, though the two new musical motives in some degree act as compensation. As always Dariusz Wolski's pictures present themselves very well, and a feeling of delight strikes when we see the beautiful landscapes and the unbelievable art direction/scenography. (a potential favourite to the OBF awards? :)) The whole mix is nicely binded together in a cool, grim style. And served in 3D (utterly unnecessary.)

And finally everything falls onto the actors. It's because of them that the new love story, as if from a fairytale, turns out to be pretty average – the ones involved in the love affair being a (highly) stylized Will Turner clone (Sam Claflin) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey.) Claflin's terrible performance is only partially redeemed by his love interest who portrays a mythical and devilish beauty with sheer conviction. Ian Mcshane's portrayal of a 'dark horse' character turns out to be one of the movie's strong points; as always it is a pleasure to watch Penelope Cruz who (as if expected to) to some extent plays the role similar to that of her character in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Geoffrey Rush displays quality acting. However, the movie benefits most from the amazing Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. In a way he doesn't offer anything innovative, but his problems, behaviours and facial expressions are PRICELESS.
The fourth part of the renowned series, despite the numerous cons and script defects, is an enjoyable adventure movie, a good choice for a warm evening. Partially because of my fondness to the pirate series, partially because of my content regarding the change of direction when bearing in mind “At World's End” I'll give this motion picture a (slightly exaggerated) four.