Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strangers Tides

With Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner happily married (sort of), with three-time Pirates director Gore Verbinski engaged on Rango and with the Black Pearl trapped in a bottle, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was ready for a reboot. Especially with Johnny Depp safely aboard as Captain Jack Sparrow. This fourth film, On Stranger Tides, has far fewer distractions from its prime attraction, Captain Jack Sparrow.

The story opens in 18th-century London with Jack Sparrow's appearance before George II (a fabulously slimy Richard Griffiths). When a drop at the end of a noose seems unavoidable, Sparrow escapes in a fine chase across carriage tops in the filthy streets of London. Along the way there are some surprises, not least of which is the fake Jack Sparrow (Penelope Cruz in a beard). Captured by Blackbeard (McShane), who may or not be the father of Angelica (Cruz), Sparrow is set the task of helping Blackbeard discover the Fountain of Youth. The search is impeded by the arrival of the King's agent, after the same thing. This is none other than

Barbossa (Rush), whose rehabilitation appears to have been accompanied by the arrival of airs, graces and a pegleg. Zombies and other miscreant pirates complicate matters further. But the Fountain of Youth is worthless without the tear of a mermaid. And these are no Daryl Hannah Splash mermaids.

For what may well be the first in a new set of adventures for Jack Sparrow, Jerry Bruckheimer and Depp picked musical director Rob Marshall (Nine, Chicago) and his choreographer and executive producer John DeLuca to stamp their own mark on the film. The team first selected an actress they knew well, Penelope Cruz (Nine), to create a worthy opponent for Sparrow that is also a pirate in her own right. The locations were also changed, moved away from the Caribbean to the remote and rather wild jungles and beaches of Hawaii's islands. Joining Cruz are more new faces, Ian McShane as iconic pirate Blackbeard and a fresh set of potential young lovers in the guise of Astrid Bergès-Frisbey and Sam Claflin as Syrena the mermaid and Philip Swift the young missionary.

The familiar are here and they don't get much more familiar than Johnny Depp's Sparrow. Barbossa, however, is scene stealing, taking his villainy and scheming to whole new depths but while Blackbeard may be a new recruit to the films, there's little unfamiliar about McShane's pirate. Similarly, Penelope Cruz is an enjoyable addition to Pirates but there is little substance to her character. But the scenes between Jack and Angelica are enjoyable and the moments between Sparrow and his character's inspiration and father, Keith Richards, are a pleasure.

What stands out in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides are the scenes with the mermaids, a cross between sirens and vampires, who are as deadly as they are beautiful and seductive. The moment when the pirates meet a shoal? a school? of mermaids is sensational and is both frightening and mesmerising. The young mermaid Syrena, captured for her tear, is as memorable as the missionary Swift is forgettable.

As one would expect from a Pirates movies, the action is constant, with well-choreographed and exciting action sequences, interlaced with the usual pirate posturing and Sparrow gags. The added 3D dimension does enhance some of the jokes and the overall film, including the Fountain of Youth set from Pinewood, are as stunning and evocative as is required. At 136 minutes long, On Stranger Tides was, however, pushing the limits of my attention span. What did make up for this was the absence of the seemingly interminable Swann and Turner story.

It's perhaps unlikely that this will become anyone's favourite movie of the Pirates franchise but if you're after a well made, funny and action packed summer film you could do a lot worse than Pirates of the Caribbean: On
Stranger Tides. As Jerry Bruckheimer said at the press conference, Johnny Depp worked hard with the screenwriters for this film and he doesn't want to disappoint his fans. I think they'll be very happy with his efforts.

Disney release Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides across the UK on May 18th.