Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

       Sam and I were lucky enough to go to the movies TWICE so far this month. That never happens! I love talking about movies and hearing what other people think, so I'd love to hear some feedback if anyone cares to take the time to chime in. Since this blog is pretty much an outlet for whatever I feel inspired to write about, I bet that movies and reviews will pop up rather often; so let's get the ball rolling!

       I absolutely LOVED the first Pirates of the Caribbean. Going into it, I thought it would either stink, or be fantastic... probably not anywhere in between. I loved the idea of a pirate-themed movie and was really happy that it turned out to be a great flick! It was clever and whimsical, yet swash-buckley and action-packed all at once.
       The two sequels were horrible in comparison though. SO over the top and poorly-written. In my opinion, they took everything that I loved about the original and pooped all over it. Kind of like fan fiction novels that think that they're "oh so cool" but actually totally miss the mark, then expose the copycat authors as the lame, over-giddy fans that they are. That was totally my impression of Pirates 2 & 3. The writers, computer animators, and director over-exaggerated the subtle things that made the original characters and plot work well and not be over the top... then just went way out in left field with it.
       So where does "On Stranger Tides" fall in all of this? Kind of right in the middle. I was very happy to see that they tried to keep the storyline more tame and reasonable; that was appreciated. The character writing was also pretty good at allowing Jack to seem more like an extension of his original self rather than the parody that existed in the sequels. It moved along well enough as a movie and introduced some interesting elements of classic folklore in a new way.
       I still think that this Pirates fell short though. I don't know... I just wound up really not caring by the end because I know that the movie wasn't going to be accountable to itself for anything it sets up. No one is going to die when you think they are. No one is ever actually as good or as bad as they "seem". It winds up being rather predictable in its attempts at being unpredictable.
       If you're a pirates fan and aren't critical, then I think you'll really like the movie. If you are skeptical in the first place, I don't think you're missing out by not seeing it.