Film Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Rated M (supernatural themes and violence). 137 minutes. Directed by Rob Marshall. Screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.

As big budget, box office-storming extravaganzas go, it’s difficult to imagine a more successful motion picture franchise than Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean (which originated in 1967 as a Disneyland attraction).

The first three films – The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and At World’s End (2007) – have made the studio billions of dollars while ensuring that Johnny Depp’s endearing ‘Jack Sparrow’ is one of the most instantly recognisable fictional characters in contemporary cinema.

In this latest instalment – On Stranger Tides – the rules of engagement have changed. Significantly, Gore Verbinski (who directed the first three films) has been replaced by Mr Marshall (Nine, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) who fares less well with the strangely more conventional material. Gone, too, are Pirates … stalwarts Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley – replaced by two new ingénues – Sam Clafin as ‘Philip’ the Missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as ‘Syrena’ the Mermaid.

Mr Elliot and Mr Rossio’s screenplay about the search for the Fountain of Youth is far less creatively ambitious than their scripts for the previous films in the series, while regular Pirates … cinematographer Dariusz Wolski keeps us, quite literally, in the dark for far too much of the time.

Mr Depp (who obviously relishes playing this role) storms his way through the proceedings with typical flair, while newcomers Penélope Cruz (as love interest and co-conspirator Angelica) and Ian McShane (as Blackbeard) bring some much-needed passion to the screen. Geoffrey Rush continues to have a ball with the, now, one-legged ‘Barbossa’. What is somehow regrettable is that the couple of memorable sequences between him and Mr Depp (involving a pair of goblets) chiefly serve to momentarily re-ignite the constantly inspired comedic delight of the previous films – delight that is sadly lacking in this entry into the franchise.

But the mermaids are great!

Pictured: Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.