Ed's Review Dot Com

Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Translux

Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Gemma Ward, Judi Dench, Sam Claflin, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Richard Griffiths, Keith Richards

Jack is back! Back in the city, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in need of a ship. The Spanish are off on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth of Ponce de Leon fame, and the English do not want the Spaniards to get there first. They’ve made Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) (who lost the Black Pearl and his leg to Blackbeard (Ian McShane) a Captain and given him a ship, but he needs Jack’s map to find the way. Jack meanwhile has met an impostor who has taken his name and has a ship (none other than Blackbeard’s) and convinces Jack to go with them to find the Fountain of Youth. The Pirates saga continues with film number four of the series and brings a lot of adventure and treachery along the way.

On Stranger Tides is a strong film with all the great stuff 1,2, and 3 had. It’s missing Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly) but we don’t really miss them. They are just ignored and there is no time wasted in explaining why they’re not here. Penelope Cruz is a decent addition, although she is not great in this film and she’s a little out of her comfort zone with this role, for sure. But Barbosa is now a Captain in the Royal Navy of all things, and Blackbeard is an awful menacing bad guy. There’s no major point to the story, just an excuse for a little pirating and mayhem, but that’s ok because the action and adventure is non-stop. There are sub-quests along the way that are a little to simple, but the views are so sumptuous along the way that we don’t care if it has a wonderful back story. We know these guys well now, and so we’re very comfortable in where they’re coming from.

I watched it in IMAX 3-D and at a matinée showing at $18.00 a ticket, it was highly expensive, but I was happy to fork out the money for a special occasion like this. It was spectacular to be in the middle of the huge IMAX screen and the 3-D I felt was stunning. I am getting to really enjoy 3-D and hope it even becomes easier as time goes by. It’s a fairly long movie, as it should be, and well worth the nearly 3 hour investment of time. I highly recommend On Stranger Tides, especially for anyone who liked the first one, as the stories got a little overloaded in the last two films and it kind of bogged down a little, but this one was, to me, almost as great as the first time. It was nice that it ended up being tons of fun. Even the monkey has a cameo.

P.S. The mermaid is kinda cute, but trust me, it’s not worth it to try to make friends with their kind. They can be pretty nasty!!!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog