“Fast Five” led the way with other sequels such as “The Hangover Part II,” “Cars 2,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Kung Fu Panda 2” and new chapters in previously established series’ like “X-Men: First Class” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”
The film leading the way in that regard is “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
Much like with the “Star Wars” saga, the fourth movie is the start of a new saga that holds over some of the same characters but the overall general idea of the movie remains the same.
Captain Jack Sparrow starts off the film in some sort of peril, pulls some crazy shenanigans to escape, he gets captured by his enemies, makes a deal with them to gain his release, double crosses everybody, there’s a big battle at the end and Jack gets what he wants and eventually does the right thing.
“On Stranger Tides” goes by the same paint-by-numbers formula from that the first three movies gave us but the ride is enjoyable none-the-less.
Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and Kevin R. McNally reprise their roles from the originally trilogy and those are the only familiar faces you see as thankfully as the ever whiney Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly chose not to reprise their roles as Will Turner is still shepherding the souls of the dead to the other side aboard the Flying Dutchman.
In their absence, we are blessed with Peneolpe Cruz who instantly becomes the best supporting character in any of the four films as her sex appeal oozes off the screen and her performance gives legitimacy to the idea that her character is the equal of Sparrow and Barbosa, something that the Elizabeth Swann character never quite captured.
Ian McShane stars as the film’s main antagonist, Blackbeard. McShane’s performance is superb, bringing the feel that the guy is just evil and not nice, and not an over the top monster. Blackbeard is just not a good dude and McShane captures that without making him into a cartoon character.
Disney has said that they hope this film spurns another trilogy which would be fine with me. You can since that Depp truly enjoys the role and unlike his performance in “The Tourist,” he is truly into the character and would never mail in a performance as Captain Jack Sparrow.
If you liked the three previous “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, there is no reason why you wouldn’t like this.
Recommended.
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