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Laramie Movie Scope:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Stranger tides incoherent screenplay

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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May 21, 2011 -- Continuing a dismal trend of more sequels, remakes and less original material we have yet another sequel in the seemingly endless series of movies based on a theme park attraction. I went back recently and revisited the original film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003) and you know what? It wasn't that good to begin with. It is worse now, which is a fairly reliable rule with most remakes and sequels.

This particular installment has a plot which is a real mess, not that plotting was ever a strong suit in this series. This one is senseless from beginning to end with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp reprising his role from the previous films), Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush, also reprising his role from the previous Pirate films) and some Spanish sailors in a three-way race to find the mythical Fountain of Youth. Along for the ride are Penelope Cruz as Angelica, apparently taking the place of Keira Knightley, who bowed out of the series with Orlando Bloom. Bloom's “b story love interest” role in the film has been taken by Sam Claflin, who plays a young man of faith who falls hard for a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey).

It is not enough that Sparrow is Shanghaied aboard Blackbeard's (Ian McShane) ship and pressed into to duty to find the Fountain of Youth using his magic compass, he also has to acquire even more arcane information besides his secret treasure map. He gets this information in most unlikely ways from an old flame, Angelica, and his father (Keith Richards, also reprising his role). It turns out to be ridiculously complicated to benefit from the fountain of youth, requiring special containers, magical materials, some sort of pagan ritual and a passage through a zone of anti-gravity water. Compared to this, the quest for the Holy Grail is a piece of cake.

Perhaps the most interesting character in the movie is Blackbeard the pirate. He is unabashedly evil, devilishly clever, has a complicated relationship with Angelica, has zombies among the officers on his ship, and uses magic to manipulate his ship's sails and nautical ropes. Captain Barbossa is interesting as usual, having temporarily shifted his allegiance to the King of England. He is Captain of one of the ships seeking the Fountain of Youth. Jack Sparrow, usually the most interesting character in any of the other three Pirate movies, seems unfocused in this film. Even more effeminate than usual, we see Sparrow run like a girl on more than one occasion. He does some sword fighting from time to time, along with the usual acrobatic escapes one expects in this sort of swashbuckling film, but he seems a bit bored, or at least distracted, while doing so.

The acting and casting of this film are O.K. The big problem is the jumbled story and how it fails to develop or utilize consistent characterizations. I've heard Johnny Depp might not do another of these films if he doesn't see a decent script for the next one. After seeing this, I can certainly understand why. This will make tons of money, undeservedly so, like the Twilight series. It would be nice if this kind of money and attention were lavished on a worthy project. This film, despite its dazzling special effects, is devoid of originality, character and human values. It is the very embodiment of what is wrong with popular entertainment. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2011 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)