Move Review: Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Movies:  Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush
Director: Rob Marshall

I guess it says a lot about a movie when I can't even get up enough excitement to write a review. It's hard to analyze a movie that is neither good or bad, but merely exists. To sum up my feelings about this film, I just say "meh".

The acting is good from Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush, as usual. Depp seems a bit calmer and more level-headed in this sequel, which does take a bit of the fun away, but he still gives us a charming performance. Rush is still in fine form and Barbossa, who is bent on revenge over his lost leg.

Everyone else just seems to be phoning it in. Penelope Cruz, for how much men foam at the mouth over her, was not very interesting or charismatic. Her main role was to wear low-cut pirate corsets and speak with a (what I can only guess is supposed to be) a sexy accent. In truth, her lines were incoherent and mumbled. Her chemistry with Depp was also non-existent - a huge problem when this is supposed to be the only woman Sparrow has ever had feelings for. The lack of oomph merely accentuated Keira Knightly's absence as a woman who actually had some rapport with Jack.



The story - about finding the fountain of youth - is quite straightforward, but along the way we meet up with almost every sailor myth there is and the effect is a bit distracting. We also have to have an obligatory love story between a young mermaid and a fetching young priest (who conveniently finds some way to lose his shirt on the journey). I actually would have liked to know more about the mermaids and their mythology, but I guess the movie was trying to be mysterious about that.

Overall, it may be worth a dvd rental if you're a fan of Depp or Rush, but otherwise it was a bit of a let-down.