Reviews by Matt

Here’s the thing about the first “Pirates of the Caribbean,” it was a surprise. No one saw it coming. At the time it was seen as a movie based on a ride at Disney. Then it came out and was awesome. It was a legitimately good movie, not just fun summer fair. It was funny and had all the swashbuckling action you could ask for. It was, basically, the best type of summer movie. Then the sequels happened. They were a bloated mess where the director, cast and crew were trying way to hard to get back the magic of the first movie. They failed miserably. Yet, they made billions and that brings us to “Pirates of the Caribbean on Strangers Tides.”

This time Capitan Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is looking for the Fountain of Youth. Along the way we meet old faces, like Barbossa (Geffory Rush) and new ones, like Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter Angelica (Penelope Cruz).

Either I am getting better at writing synopsis or movies are getting dumber—maybe both.

The thing with having a huge hit like “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” is that it was a fluke. It became a hit by accident and all of a sudden, Disney had a goldmine. What do they do for the sequels? Add more. More action, more adventure, more Jack Sparrow. That was really it. The story did not get better, it just got more. The same can sort of be said of the new installment. It felt smaller in some respect, but there was still more of what the other movies had.

This was not as epic as the previous two movies. It did not have as many huge action set pieces scattered throughout the movie. Unlike the two movies preceding it, followed a (semi)logical path and was a heck of a lot easier to follow. Still, it was just not that enjoyable. I have do desire to rush out to see it again.

It was just more of the same. Even with a change in director (Rob Marshall), it was too much like the others. It was as of no one was really trying. Even Depp, who is great in the role, was just going through the motions. Nothing changes; all the characters stay exactly the same.

I wanted to like this. I love the first one and hate the second two. When I saw the previews for this one, I was hopeful. This was a chance to start anew and it was simply a retread of the first three, but this time with mermaids.

5 out of 10
PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence, some frightening images, sensuality and innuendo.
136 minutes