Art & Entertainment

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Hardly the compelling stuff expected of Captain Jack Sparrow. Is it a sign that the franchise is getting outmoded? Perhaps.

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Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
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Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush
Directed by Rob Marshall
Rating: *

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The images were hazy, the lighting dim, the CGI felt slapdash and the 3D seemed forced. But more than the technology it rides on, however, as an adventure film On Stranger Tides is hardly the compelling stuff expected of Captain Jack Sparrow. Is it a sign that the franchise is getting outmoded? Perhaps.

In the fourth instalment, Sparrow (Depp) hunts for the Fountain of Youth with Spanish goddess Angelica (Cruz), fighting the pirate Blackbeard and meeting fragile, tormented mermaids. As well, there’s also Barbossa (Rush) holding many a peg in his wooden leg. All these characters and the narrative itself remain diffuse and dispersed. Nothing seems to mesh together well. Not even Depp, who is far from charming despite being his usual swaggering, brash self. Cruz appears to have been cast to add some exotic value and freshness, but is able to manage little of either. Her relationship with Depp remains indeterminate and lacks fire. The narrative is meandering, convoluted and protracted beyond interest, with boring action sequences interspersed. The only sense of wonderment one feels is during the sequences involving the mermaids. But then, that’s not what Pirates has been all about.

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