I had rather low expectations going into the theater at 6:30 this afternoon to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In August of 2009, I was admittedly excited to see Johnny Depp walk out on the stage, donning his Captain Jack Sparrow persona, at the D23 Convention. Unfortunately, the third installment of the franchise resonated in my mind and I felt myself slip into a slight depression, believing that the fifth film would be more of the same.
I was pleased to find that the new film was striped down—so to speak. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley did not return for this film, thankfully, to reprise their roles as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. Their love story in the first movie was never that enjoyable to watch nor was it any better in the later films, I still have nightmares about the wedding during the final battle in At World’s End. In On Stranger Tides, much of the fat that had built up in the franchise’s films over the years had been lost, like a depressed teenage girl.
Although Captain Jack was his usual silly self, it was apparent there was something different. Things weren’t naturally falling into place as he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. He made deliberate actions and actually showed how skilled he was at escaping from nasty situations. The audience can finally understand why he is a renowned pirate in the franchise’s lore. In addition, the plot of the story went back to what made the premise of the original story so great, “The mysteries of the open sea.” While I thorough enjoyed Davy Jones and his tentacled face, I was not a fan of the love connection between him and the sea goddess. I think that in that instance they took the mystery of the sea too far (She turns into crabs!? What the hell?). The filmmakers of On Stranger Tides were able to find a happy medium between reality and fantasy, giving their ship a proper heading as it were.
