This fourth installment of the Pirate of the Caribbean is such a let-down and a drastic decrease in entertainment value then its previous predecessors. Gone are the excitements and thrills of battling hoards of supernatural beings…well, if you consider the single segment of being clawed by a bunch of beautiful mermaids, then I guess you can check off the supernatural creature requirement. There is no surprise what-so-ever in this script. The story and plot are replaced by a straight and simplistic premise that could have been told in less than half the time that this movie runs. On Stranger Tides takes our buccaneer Jack Sparrow on a quest to locate the Fountain of Youth, all the while collecting the necessary items to activate the magical power of the fountain. Unfortunately, hunting for the treasure is not as challenging as it should be considering the quest played out as easy as if the characters know exactly where to go and had a cheat sheet that said, “go here and push secret code 1,2,3 to collect item.”
Action sequences are nowhere nearly as choreographed as the past, nor are they as extensive. Most of the battle scenes seem to be knock-offs of similar premises from the previous movies, but not as good being that they end too quickly. For god’s sake, what kind of a action-adventure seafaring pirate movie that doesn’t even fire a single cannon shot throughout the entire 2-hrs?
Ohh, I don’t think that I even need to mention about the lackluster attempt at injecting a little romance into the movie by introducing a new pair of star-crossed lovers. The ending result gives off more of an “URGH” than an “AWWww”.
I hate to say it, but it feels as though Pirate of the Caribbean may be going the way of Batman, with the script quality slowly deteriorate and replaced with cheesy narratives and plots accompanied by amateurish fight scenes. Let’s just hope this is a little hiccup for the franchise and the fifth installment will be much better.