Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) by Paul D — 14 Sep 2014

Having a 3 years distance from watching this on opening day and being really disappointed really helped in my reevaluation of the film. Director Rob Marshall does a commendable job in taking the reigns over from Gore Verbinski, the director of the splendid original trilogy. The period detail is spot on, the action sequences are solid (in particular I was surprised how effective and entertains the mermaid attack was on second viewing and it's probably one of my favorite sequences overall), wonderful and memorable score from the ever amazing and talented Hans Zimmer, lovely cinematography and another entertaining go around from Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. I enjoyed Penelope Cruz's character as Jack Sparrow's former flame and I really want to see where they can take their relationship in future films. The only real problems with this installment is that it rarely has the genius and giddy energy of Gore Verbinski's trilogy and a key lack of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan is an oversight the filmmakers should have addressed, and while Jack Sparrow is deservedly the star, it just isn't the same watching him on adventures without those Turner or Swan to bond and bicker with. All in all though, they did a pretty good job giving Jack Sparrow a solid stand alone adventure that I look forward to revisiting in the future along with the original trilogy. And again, some of the new characters and plot threads have potential to be expanded upon on interesting ways, especially the wickedly cool teases and surprises at the very end.

And before I forget, the 3d is excellent and much better and more impressive than I remember it being when seeing it in IMAX 3D (though some of the IMAX 3D stuff I remember looking so great isn't as impressive when viewing on a 47 inch 3d display).