Now for the review:

The filmmakers of On Stranger Tides were most likely interested in writing a simpler story compared to the previous two films’ larger than life tale of gods and death. As such, the film felt very much smaller in scale, which I thought was a good thing. Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End were plagued with poor writing, plot holes, and a very disjointed story. On Stranger Tides had a smaller story, as such it had less computer-generated effects and more practical ones.

There really isn’t much point to talk about the leading role as everyone loves Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. He’s still the charming and offbeat pirate we know and love, just made main character this time around. Noticeably, we get to peer further into the mind of Jack Sparrow due to this. In an early scene, we get to see Jack alone as he surveys the room. You can tell the gears are going in his head as he works out a way to escape from the room should he need to, which was very interesting to see.

Geoffrey Rush returns as Captain Barbossa, having been made a privateer. As usual, he gives an over-the-top performance that seemed like the only pirate one would ever have in mind and is simply fantastic when paired with Depp. Sadly, he isn’t given that much to do this time around and was largely underused.

Two actors I am thankful that didn’t return were Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. One of the biggest detriments to the series were those two’s main roles in the series. Their romantic story just bogged down the films with blandness and… to be frank, lameness. So thank goodness they’re not in this one.

As for new cast members, we have Penélope Cruz as Jack’s love interest Angelica and Ian McShane as Blackbeard. As a big surprise to me, Cruz’s character proved to be a lot more interesting than I initially pegged her for. The relationship presented between her and Jack seemed very real to me in how it was done. Angelica was very much like a spurred ex-girlfriend, and Jack like a man who didn’t know how to handle these strange feelings he has for her –

– So he ditches her. Ha. Comedy. It’s funny.

I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I would have liked to have seen some flashbacks to have shown Jack and Angelica’s relationship before the start of the story instead of them having to tell us about it. Nevertheless, Angelica was an excellent addition. On the other hand, however, the opposite proved true for Blackbeard. When I heard Ian McShane was casted as him, I was saying, “Yes! That is PERFECT!” Sadly, the Blackbeard of this story was a massive villain cardboard cutout. It wasn’t that he was badly acted; McShane did a fine job. The problem was that he wasn’t used to the best of his capabilities. Blackbeard’s role seemed largely inconsequential compared to everything, despite being the main villain. It seemed like any villainous character could’ve been used and it would’ve ended up with the same result. There were some interesting aspects presented, but were sadly underutilized. He was just a very bland villain.

Which brings us to the biggest problem for the movie: Its story elements were all underutilized. There were multiple parts in the story that were introduced but never really amounted to much in the story, such as Blackbeard’s magic sword that is able to manipulate ships or Jack’s voodoo doll. You’re just left wondering when are these plot points going to become important, which is a shame since they would’ve certainly created interesting and cool scenes. Conversely, there were many, many, many scenes that serve no purpose aside to pad out the runtime of the film (despite being a pretty long film of two hours and twenty minutes). They just left me bored in my seat as I wonder why they weren’t cut to make room for…well, those interesting and cool scenes they could’ve done with the underutilized plot points! And all that ultimately leads up to a sadly unsatisfying, anticlimactic final fight.

With that said, I did in fact enjoy this movie. The cast, with the exception of Blackbeard, were all fantastic and enjoyable; the action scenes were very well choreographed and shot; and the comedy was very good.

For this swashbuckler of a film, I give:

2.5 out of 5

Again, despite the low score I gave, I did enjoy this movie. While it felt a bit directionless at times and did have a bit of needlessly complicated plot for simple story, the overall enjoyment value was still there and you can find entertainment in it if you’re willing to overlook some of the problems it has.

Also, don’t see this in 3D. It wasn’t worth jack – no pun intended.

I recommend this film to Pirates of the Caribbean fans. Not so much for others, I’m afraid.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.