Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

I found this on the server and I'm so happy because that means I don't have to buy it!  I was going to, just to complete my collection, but now I don't need to because I own a copy.  And it's a decent-quality copy, too, unlike some which I've found on there.  What can you do?  They were free.

Anyway, I was glad I watched this again because I needed to remember what I didn't like about it.  The only thing that stuck in my mind was how awesome the mermaid battle was and I knew there was more to the movie than that.  But why focus on the negative?  This could have been so much worse!  Sure, it was still a shameless grab for cash but it has cameos from Judi Dench and Keith Richards.  Movie #5, currently subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales is currently filming and is slated for release in 2017 so if you were hoping this series had petered out, you are SOL.  Personally, Johnny Depp can swan around in eyeliner and craft store wigs until he's in his 80's for all I care.  I love Jack Sparrow.  Originally posted 22 May 11.    This isn't a terrible film for being the fourth in a series.  I was expecting it to be kind of bad just based on that criteria but it's not.  It's a little disjointed, a little frenetic, but not bad.  

Captain Jack is back and rescuing Mr. Gibbs from the hangman's noose when he discovers that someone calling themselves Jack Sparrow has been looking for a crew and a ship.  In need of transportation himself and very upset at the copyright infringement, Jack seeks out the impostor and ends up press-ganged into service on the Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by the one and only Blackbeard, who is searching for the Fountain of Youth.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gibbs is forced into leading Captain Barbossa, now a privateer in the King's Navy and missing a leg, to the selfsame place.  Ostensibly, they are there to thwart the Spanish for the glory of England, but things are very rarely straightforward with pirates.

I have to say that this installment was much darker in tone overall than the previous three.  The characters have grown a lot more callous with regards to human life and less this-is-based-on-a-theme-park-ride-for-kids.  The mermaid battle is one example.  Even though we're supposed to be more sympathetic towards Barbossa after all we've been through together, it's hard to see his actions (I'm not going to spoil it) as anything other than those of a stone-cold calculating bastard.  

By comparison, Ian McShane's Blackbeard is kind of lackluster.  He's doesn't vary his performance enough to show real menace.  I don't want to say he phoned it in, but "ring, ring, hooker, ring, ring".  Ditto for the Spanish villain.  I didn't even catch his name.  He could have been as creepy as Tom Hollander was in At World's End as the East India Trading Company guy but he's not on screen long enough.

I thought the mermaids were a great addition but I wish Astrid Berges-Frisby had been able to emote a little more.  It was like The Little Mermaid had been Botoxed.  Hopefully, she'll have a bigger part in movie #5.  I also hope they'll fix Sam Clafin's teeth.

Blackbeard doesn't have a monopoly on being a bad person.  I'm just sayin'.

Also, stick around after the credits for a teaser clip.  It's only about half a second long but intriguing.