Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The Pirates of the Caribbean series had become somewhat farcical with unhinged plots and an increasingly zany Johnny Depp in recent years (uh, how I shudder) but thankfully - under the new direction of Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) - we’re back in more familiar, chartered waters with the latest installment, On Stranger Tides.

The glory days of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl are never likely to be reclaimed but I can’t be overly critical of On Stranger Tides, simply because they’ve taken things back to basics – a quality so vastly lacking in the second and third installments.

Granted, we will accept that the latest entry is far too long and could easily 30 minutes (especially towards the end when everyone in our screening was halfway up from their seats when they suddenly decided to throw in three or four alternate endings). That aside, the return of a semi-sane state to Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) is much less cringeworthy than before.

Enter Penelope Cruz as, firstly, an imposter of Captain Jack which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and then as a former flame of the wacky pirate. It takes time to warm to Cruz’s unorthodox swashbuckling role but once her character’s identity is revealed early on – when Sparrow pops a few top buttons on her blouse – we’re hooked from therein.

Nemesis

And so the complex storyline unfolds as Captain Jack assists Angelica (Cruz) in search of the Fountain of Youth. It wouldn’t be a Pirates flick without the support of likeable nemesis Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and the inclusion of the feared pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane of Deadwood).

As usual, Captain Jack has to jump sides, or should that be ships, a few times to succeed in completing his goal with plenty of close shaves along the way. Probably the most impactful scene in the entire film is when Blackbeard, his crew and Sparrow seek out a mermaid’s tear and finally get their hands on Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), and boy is she a real find.

If you’re expecting a return to the quick wit from eight years ago when Pirates of the Caribbean first set sail you will likely be sorely disappointed. However, if you’ve been an avid fan for near-on a decade then you’ll be left with hope for the future of Disney's flagship series.

On the other hand, if your only dalliance with pirate talk has been a conversion to the language on Facebook, then you can consider this summer blockbuster a much-needed tutorial.

William Nestor