DAN'S Pirates 4 REVIEW

Get ready to set sail for another swashbucking adventure, Pirates fans!

In this new movie epic loosely based on the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, Jack has made a dramatic return to piracy, joined by ever faithful (I kid) comrades Barbossa, Gibbs—and that’s pretty much it. After the third entry in the legendary Pirates of the Caribbean series—At World’s End—met with disappointing critical reaction, Disney has set a new captain at the ship’s wheel of their money-raking titan. Rob Marshall, who may be best known for his work on cult classic title “Annie,” brings with him extensive experience in the realm of—wait for it—musicals! Sure, it may seem out of place—indeed, many of the scenes look like they could break out in song at any moment. Fortunately, Rob’s laid back and casual take to the film sets a new tone for the series, no longer aspiring to Iliad style epic, but more resorting to your average TV special episodic flick—which, frankly, is much more approachable. Virtually the entire Pirates cast has been given a wash over, with the previous crew of the Black Pearl supposedly getting cozy with codfish one thousand leagues under the sea before the action begins. The Black Pearl itself, long considered the series staple beside intrepid Jack Sparrow, has been sunk and lost, with a new ship—along with a new villain—emerging to take its place.

Following an energizing introduction that depicts the Spanish acquiring a map to the fountain of youth, the story picks up with Jack Sparrow's triumphant return to Port Royal to assemble a new crew. After learning his old friend Gibbs has been imprisoned and set to appear in a laughably ruthless court filled with sadistic villagers and demon children, Jack embarks on a daring rescue posing as a judge to free Gibbs and set off on his own expedition for the fountain. Unfortunately, Jack’s plan goes horribly awry, as he discovers reports of an imposter posing as himself also in need of a crew. When he and Gibbs are captured again, Jack is led face to face with an old enemy—Captain Hector Barbossa, who has retired from captaining the Pearl and set up a retirement plan as privateer in the British Navy. In another eye-peeling escape, Jack flees Barbossa and confronts his imposter—a daunting damsel named Angelica whose alluring femininity and sharp wit has even set Jack’s own barricaded heart stirring. Though we are given little backstory, Angelica and Jack are implied to have a history together, and Jack finds himself with mixed feelings about her return. Minutes from sharing a passionate kiss, Angelica proceeds to knock Jack out and take him prisoner aboard her own ship—the Queen Anne’s Revenge. From there, Jack meets the legendary Blackbeard, alleged to be Angelica’s father, and the story unfolds in a four way race between Jack, Blackbeard, Barbossa and the Spaniards to reach the magical waters of the fountain of youth.

I won’t deny that I am somewhat prejudiced in my opinion of the Pirates movies. Even from childhood, stories about pirates and treasures and adventures on the high seas have captivated my imagination, and Jack Sparrow’s epic tales have only served to renew this fascination. That said, I am—among my fellow moviegoers—in a disappointing minority when I say that On Stranger Tides has managed to grip my attention in a way few movies have in the last couple of years. Be it the comical chemistry between fan favorites Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, the show-stealing mermaid scenes, or the surprisingly endearing character of Angelica, this movie has already paved a permanent home in my DVD collection cabinet.

That isn’t to say the movie is perfect. In fact, I must agree with fellow critics that the film suffers from several shortcomings. Chief among these—and an ever growing problem in many popular franchises that come to mind—is that the main character is not the main character. While the story follows Jack rather loyally for the first half hour of the narrative, Jack slowly dissolves to the sidelines as a more pressing tension is aroused in the wake of a prophecy concerning Blackbeard’s death, and the central role Barbossa has to play in it. While Barbossa is certainly a fascinating character in his own right, it begins to grow irritating when the movie seems to forget all about Jack, skipping over his character for periods of up to fifteen minutes at a time. Indeed, for well more than half the movie—Jack is actually working for the villain himself!

Speaking of villains, I’m going to go out on a limb and say Blackbeard’s my favorite since Curse of the Black Pearl. While the character suffers from a sore lack of development, and his frequent attempts to prove his villainous merits border on a humorous cliché, I find Ian McShane’s rousing portrayal of him to be one of the most redeeming aspects of the movie. While Stranger Tide’s exposition sets Blackbeard up as a character to be feared and hated, Edward Teach (for you history buffs) soon shows a different face for his daughter Angelica, whom he considers “the one good thing he’s done in the world.” While the film seems to spend a good deal of time contrasting Blackbeard’s affections for Angelica with his selfish ambitions, he stays true to his defining motivation—immortality. Very much akin to Harry Potter’s Voldermort, Blackbeard is a character portrayed as cruel and irredeemable, hating life yet fearing death. This doesn’t stop Angelica, however, from trying to save him, and it’s this conflict that impresses most in the film’s underdeveloped narrative.

 

Another interesting foil to Blackbeard is explored in the characters Philip and Syrena, a new love couple devised to fill the void left by series regulars Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. While feeling less genuine than Will and Elizabeth’s original outing, Philip and Syrena nonetheless manage to capture the audience’s sympathy in their nearly tragic episode. Philip, a missionary, contrasts with virtually the entire cast of Pirates in that he is a genuinely caring and largely selfless individual out for the good of others rather than himself. Despite Philip’s reduced presence, his virtuosity of character greatly impacts the characters of the film, most notably Syrena, a fetching mermaid imprisoned by Blackbeard to lead him to the fountain. Before I get into Syrena, however, I must express my utter adoration for the special effects department’s masterful portrayal of these beautiful creatures. Scarce ever before have myth and legends come to the big screen with such believability and perfection. I can say with little hesitance that the scene introducing the mermaids to this film will go down as one of my favorite movie spectacles ever. You have never seen mermaids rendered so flawlessly and magically, and the siren’s song that Gemma Ward sings to her mesmerized sailors nearly sent me into a hypnotized stupor. I have, I will freely admit, been listening to this same song for several days now, and still have yet to grow tired of it (kudos to Zimmer for another excellent musical score). If you possess any love of mermaids, you will understand me when I say that regardless of how you feel about Marshall’s direction, they alone make this movie worth watching. That said, the character of Syrena stole every scene she was in for me. Her curiosity and contrary fear of humans meshed well with Philip’s tender and outgoing nature, and turned what could have been a dry and heartless romance into a spectacle that—at the very least—was relatable.

Of course, I could not end this review without addressing the series titular protagonist, Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp is, after all, what arguably made the series the cult classic that it is today. Such is the case here, even though Depp seems to see less screen time in this movie than ever before. Jack is as funny and wild as ever, cracking jokes and downing rum faster than you can say parlay. His action sequences—which are actually quite numerous—are always well done and ambitious. If anything, the fact that Jack can still make us laugh and capture our attention is a testament to how truly well conceived this fictional character is. That said, wisecracks alone aren’t going to carry our affections too much longer, and though I’ve defended directors’ choices not to expound upon Jack’s past in a more thorough manner before (leave that for the tie-in novels), the “Jack as usual” is starting to get a little old. While Jack’s bickering with Barbossa and his flirty moments with Angelica often pose as some of the best moments in the series, there just isn’t enough of it. Come to think of it, that’s my main complaint with the movie as a whole—extraordinarily great moments, but not enough of them. The first half of the movie is riddled with tiresome explanatory dialogue to set the film up, and when the story finally starts to play out, Jack’s importance to the narrative has long worn off. While I never found myself tired or bored, and good jokes were actually frequent, Jack just felt lacking. Barbossa, on the other hand, took the spotlight in an extraordinary way, and had far better instances of development than in any Pirates iteration before. Chances are, if Barbossa is your favorite character (like me), you’re going to find a lot to like in this movie. If you’re in it for Sparrow, however, you may yourself more optimistic towards the end of the film (where lies in wait great spoilerz!), yet mostly unsatisfied with everything else.

It goes without saying that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a movie with flaws. However, for all the flaws it makes, the good aspects of the movie—for the optimist—far outshine its shortcomings, and serve as a beacon of hope for what was not long ago considered a dying series. Sure, Jack wasn’t the main character, and most of the cast may not be around to share in the fun anymore (both of which look to be fixed in the impending sequel). But beyond serving as another ode to Jack, Marshall’s greater purpose was to give the franchise a new tone and style. There are no more love tragedies between disfigured monsters and thousand-year-old sea goddesses, no more wars to end all wars, and no more power struggles for the coveted title of “Pirate King.” Instead, Marshall seems to steer the franchise into an “Indiana Jones of the seas” type feel. It’s the pirate story that all pirates stories should be—simple, forward, and imaginative. It’s not about deeply conflicted characters or plot twists or complicated backstory. It’s about Jack hunting for treasure, cracking jokes, drinking rum, flirting with ladies, and crossing swords with bad(der) guys. And to me, that’s what I feel the series has been lacking since its first outing. It’s a step in the right direction, and the precedent for a new slew of engrossing escapades. So with a smile on my face, and a mug of rum in my hand (fine—it’s root beer), I give Pirates 4 a jolly 3.5 gold coins out of 5. It’s a pirates life for me, matey!