Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesTrailer Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on the surface looks just like it's predecessors and fits in nicely with the art direction that's been established for the series. But under the hood, the 4th installment feels off. With the first 3 films, in spite of
Johnny Depp leading the charge as
Captain Jack Sparrow, all 3 films had a nice balance between the entire cast of 'leads'.
Sparrow never really came off as the "Star" if you will, even though he clearly is. Taking
Orlando Bloom and
Keira Knightley out of this one shifted the balance too far to one side, leaving
Depp to carry the movie on his shoulders and it shows.
I don't think
Stranger Tides is as awful as most people make this out to be, but it is definitely the weakest in the franchise. Even with the addition of
Penélope Cruz as
Angelica and
Ian McShane as
Captain Blackbeard, along with the return of
Geoffrey Rush and
Kevin McNally, the cast still can't save itself from a plot that just doesn't deliver at the end, not to mention that it basically swipes from the ending of
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with regards the the Fountain Of Youth / Everlasting life. The Mermaids were a nice touch, but in the end, I just didn't care for the
Preacher and
Syrena who were nothing more than 'stand in's' for the departed
Bloom and
Knightley.
I still think the movie is worth a
Rent just to keep up with where the series is going, heading into the next installment of the
Pirates franchise. As before, stay to the very end, past the credits for one final scene.