Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - quick review (1 Viewer)

I thought this latest installment of the PotC franchise to be mostly uninvolving, and it probably had too much Captain Jack Sparrow in it, as well as some other subplots that didn't really add much to the overly simplified narrative (the search for the Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth). The film featured much less spectacle (did the budget get slashed by a lot?) It had a somewhat long running time (though 30 minutes shorter than the previous installment, but felt just as long). Didn't think Rob Marshall was the right person to direct such a film, and it showed in the final product. The Jack and Angelica hinted-at romance felt forced and stale. A lot of chasing of the chalices between Jack and Barbosa, but uninterestingly so.
I give it 2 stars, or a grade of C.

I took my family to see it Sat. since I had 3 free passes. It was ok. Not great but not bad either. If box receipts are any indication there will be another and I'm sure I'll go and see it. I agree about the Jack/Angelica thing, there was zero chemistry.

I haven't seen the movie, and don't have a burning desire to, but the news today of its worldwide box office receipts since Wednesday is staggering: more than $364 million. If studios can make this kind of money in that span of time, the days of movies lingering in theaters and the long waits (even four months) for home video are gone.

Here's a quick review: B-O-R-I-N-G

Bob_S. said:

It was ok. Not great but not bad either.

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Same here. Overall, I thought it was about as good as Thor (which I liked but didn't seem to like as much as some).

On paper, hiring a director "against type" sounds like a good idea: Rob Marshall is best known for Chicago and Universal got Ang Lee to do The Hulk, but in most cases what we end up with is more experiment than entertainment. More to the point, an experiment that doesn't work. This wasn't the only problem with POtc 4 - it also felt unnecessary, overlong and just plain lifeless, despite the one or two good action sequences. The one good thing about movies like this is that the special effects are getting better. The period detail was also terrific - the film actually felt like it could've been shot 150 years ago.

I did stick around after the end credits though. Unfortunately, it looks like there will be sequel.

One thing regarding two characters stories...

Just saw this tonight in IMAX 3D.


Before I say anything else, I should mention that I'm not the hugest fan of the Pirates franchise, so I wasn't expecting brilliance here. What I loved about the first film was Johnny Depp (and to a slightly lesser degree, Geoffrey Rush). The scenes and parts of the plot with Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom did nothing for me, so when the sequels focused a lot of their attention on those two characters, I found myself bored. I saw them because, I dunno, just thought they would still be fun, but I found the sequels to be bloated and overlong. (Truth be told, I feel the same way about the first film as well.) But when I saw that those two characters wouldn't be returning here, and that this film was supposed to feature more of Johnny Depp's character than the other films had, I actually found myself getting a little excited for it.


But I thought this was mostly just bland. Nothing that happened in it seemed essential; I never felt really drawn into the story, and even Depp (who I saw the film for) seemed to be on autopilot through most of it. This was a film that I didn't expect to be great, but that I thought would still be fun. But it really wasn't all that fun. It was still overlong, with not enough plot to justify the film's length.


Rob Marshall seemed an odd choice to direct - but franchises have had success in the past thinking outside the box, so I was hopefully that a fresh eye might bring something to the film, but I didn't really feel that way with this. And, of all the films that have been shot with the Pace/Cameron Fusion rig (that is, films that have been actually shot in 3D vs. converted to 3D), this had to be the most disappointing one. IMAX theaters generally have better projection standards than regular theaters, and this theater I went to in particular has always done a great job - so when I say that this film looked muddy and dim, I truly think it was the fault of the production and not the projection. 3D effects were used so sparingly as to be almost non-existant. Some of the shot-in-3D films recently, like Avatar and Tron Legacy, really didn't throw anything at you, but created a wonderful sense of depth - and I loved that about those films. Other recent 3D films, like Resident Evil 4, did a lot of the throwing stuff at you, but they did it in a fun sort of way that I got a kick out of as well. I didn't really see much depth in the majority of the film, and with the exception of a couple pointing swords, nothing came out from the screen either. This has to be the least-3D-like 3D film I've ever seen on an IMAX screen.


It's not that the film did anything so horribly wrong that I could say it was terrible - it just seemed so bland, so dull, so uninspired, and that in some ways is worse than a film that tries to do something and fails at it and just ends up being bad. I thought this was dull, and the 3D work in the film was almost nonexistent - to the point where I wonder why they even bothered with it if they weren't going to utilize it at all. Depp had some moments, but if you've seen the trailer, you already saw all the best ones.

I was a BIG fan of the Curse Of The Black Pearl & Dead Man's Chest really grew on me and was FUN. Time has been kind to those 2. At Worlds End was WAY overbloated and needed an hour or more cut. Loved the ending however.

On Stranger Tides had a really effective trailer. Looked promising eventhough my head said...."this will not be good".


A generous 5/10. (the five for Johnny Depp)

Just got back from seeing this and it is easily my favorite of the lot next to #1, in fact, it's almost near as good. But the first had so much from the ride it's tough to beat just for that aspect. This one was very enjoyable and went very quick, didn't at all feel like a near 2.5 hour film. I didn't even miss Kiera or Orlando either and thought Cruz fit in perfectly. Fantastic film!


Can't wait for #5!