Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean is awesome, there's no denying it. The movies are beautiful, action packed (if at times a bit confusing... *cough cough*... At Worlds End... *cough cough*) and extremely well cast. Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous score by Hans Zimmer. Ever since The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in 2003 (ugh... that long ago? I feel old), I've had a real soft spot for pirates. Pirates vs. Ninjas? I'll answer pirates every time. And it's not just because Johnny Depp is amazing and drop dead sexy, and Geoffrey Rush makes the best "classic" pirate I've ever seen. It's the spirit of adventure that the film inspires. Living in suburban New York, you don't get a lot of that in your day to day life. Every time I hear that familiar theme song, I get filled with the desire to go to something daring.

I was a bit skeptical of how much further they could possibly take this franchise. It's really rare that a film series even makes a decent sequel, let alone making it to the fourth installment. And it's not even as if this series is based on books, such as Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings (which I know, only has three films, but they're so long they could count as four). In fact, the movies are based on a Disney theme park attraction (which, by the way, is also awesome)! I was impressed with On Stranger Tides. It was really much better than I expected.

Although I think the movie lacks a little bit when compared to the others, it is nonetheless a good film. It matched up to the rest of the series in most respects, only suffering from the plot interruption of not including Will and Elizabeth and having to introduce a slew of newbies. The new actors did a great job though. Penelope Cruz handles her character Angelica well, providing a great way to show a new side of Jack. Ian McShane's Blackbeard was also very memorable. Richard Griffiths' King George was hilarious as well. The mermaids can't go without mention either; Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Syrena was awesome, and I liked the twist to the popular fairy tale creatures that we get to see. Oh, and also there's Philip, played by Sam Claflin, who is mostly there to be nice and look hot.

Keith Richards returning as Jack's dad is really awesome too, even though he's only on screen for a few minutes. I think they found the perfect formula for pirate with him... just take an old rocker guy, dress him up, and bingo! Instant pirate.

A plus about this one is definitely how easy it was to understand. Maybe it's just me, but when I went to see At Worlds End I had no clue what was going on. I eventually just sat back and enjoyed the cinematic effects. It took me about five or six goes at watching it before I understood everything completely.  I think the film makers really tried to make On Stranger Tides understandable, and they succeeded.

Of course the costumes were superb. The movie was designed by Penny Rose, who did the other films as well. I think it's credit to her talent that Jack's outfit has become so iconic. The beautiful clothing design of the past three movies (well, I don't know if you would call most of the pirates beautiful, but you know what I mean) was carried into this one, helping to tie it visually to the other installments. It was historically accurate, and very pleasing to the eye. One thing I'd like to mention specifically is the belt buckles. Each of the main pirates, in the previous films and this one, wear a sword belt across their shoulder, and each one is held up by a buckle which, if you notice them, is a reflection of their personalities. I really loved Angelica's buckle, which is a heart with a sword through it!

All in all, this film was pretty good. It was fun; still filled with action and adventure like the others. And how can you not enjoy Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa? Best pirates around. I definitely recommend seeing On Stranger Tides!

Fun Fact: I got to see the first film on the big screen at a drive in movie theater! Also I had just graduated elementary school when it came out!