Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Year: 2011
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Sam Claflin, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Ian McShane & Geoffrey Rush
Runtime: 137 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 15/08/23
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Sam Claflin, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Ian McShane & Geoffrey Rush
Runtime: 137 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 15/08/23
All three Pirates of the Caribbean films had been huge box office successes, despite Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End not gaining the same kind of critical praise as The Curse of the Black Pearl. Eager to continue the money printing factory that was the Pirates franchise, Disney green lit a fourth film and production started immediately following At World’s End’s release in 2007. However, with writers strikes and a difficult development, it would take On Stranger Tides until 2011 to see the light of day, at which point it racked up an eye watering budget of $379 million, far surpassing the cost of At World’s End and becoming the most expensive film ever made (at the time). But with Rob Marshall replacing trilogy director Gore Verbinski, would this fourth film feel different to what had come before? Could it overcome the problems the previous sequels faced?
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in London tracking down an impostor using his name and title. There he finds Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a former lover of his, and the impostor whom he seeks. Kidnapped by Angelica, Jack finds himself aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, captained by the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane) who has set sail for the Fountain of Youth out of fear of this prophesised death, to which Jack has a map. But it is a race against time as Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is leading the British Navy to the fountain, and the Spanish Armada are hot on their heels.
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in London tracking down an impostor using his name and title. There he finds Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a former lover of his, and the impostor whom he seeks. Kidnapped by Angelica, Jack finds himself aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, captained by the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane) who has set sail for the Fountain of Youth out of fear of this prophesised death, to which Jack has a map. But it is a race against time as Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is leading the British Navy to the fountain, and the Spanish Armada are hot on their heels.
Out of all the Pirates of the Caribbean films so far, On Stranger Tides has perhaps the most tightly paced and focused story. There’s still a lot of fluff, clocking in at a still rather lengthy two hours and twenty minutes, but I would say even against The Curse of the Black Pearl, On Stranger Tides’ story wastes less time with trivial diversions. It’s not a particularly good story though is the problem; you’re never given a reason to get invested other than Jack being in trouble once again. There are no stakes to this film, because following on from the quite devastating stakes of At World’s End, to suddenly then scale back down to someone just wants to live forever is kind of boring.
Jack is also a rubbish main character. It was bad enough when he was promoted from quirky sidekick in Curse of the Black Pearl to joint lead in Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, but to give him the single starring lead was an awful decision. It means that all of his funny quirks now just become irritating because there’s nobody there to balance it out. In fact, in order to stop things spiralling manically out of control Jack’s eccentricities have been significantly dialled back. So, it begs the question of why bother making him the lead at all? Why not make Barbossa the lead? Or just make it an original story with few connections to the previous films? Money is the answer, Depp was a bankable star at the time and that’s really all that mattered.
Blackbeard is a good villain though, and a lot of that comes from McShane’s excellent performance. This is a character I would have loved to have seen more of in the previous films because his cutthroat nature is genuinely intimidating, so much more so than Barbossa and Davey Jones who Jack always stood up to, but here he actively avoids confrontation with Blackbeard wherever possible.
Jack is also a rubbish main character. It was bad enough when he was promoted from quirky sidekick in Curse of the Black Pearl to joint lead in Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, but to give him the single starring lead was an awful decision. It means that all of his funny quirks now just become irritating because there’s nobody there to balance it out. In fact, in order to stop things spiralling manically out of control Jack’s eccentricities have been significantly dialled back. So, it begs the question of why bother making him the lead at all? Why not make Barbossa the lead? Or just make it an original story with few connections to the previous films? Money is the answer, Depp was a bankable star at the time and that’s really all that mattered.
Blackbeard is a good villain though, and a lot of that comes from McShane’s excellent performance. This is a character I would have loved to have seen more of in the previous films because his cutthroat nature is genuinely intimidating, so much more so than Barbossa and Davey Jones who Jack always stood up to, but here he actively avoids confrontation with Blackbeard wherever possible.
The one thing that has kept the Pirates franchise above water (I know, I’m funny) are the action sequences. But even these are lacking in On Stranger Tides. They’re all considerably smaller scale than anything seen before, even the comparatively small Curse of the Black Pearl. It lacks the skilful swordplay, the epic ship battles, the large crew’s facing off against each other, even just the exotic locations. The closest you get to any of this is a chase sequence seen early in the film where Jack is being chased down by palace guards in London, but that only lasts a couple of minutes. I don’t know where On Stranger Tides’ aversion to action comes from, but it makes you wonder where all the money got spent because you actually can’t see very much of it on screen. When staked up against At World’s End, On Stranger Tides is tiny in comparison and feels like a straight to DVD spin-off than a full blown fourth film to the Pirates franchise.
The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels have never held a candle to The Curse of the Black Pearl, but On Stranger Tides makes the franchise feel genuinely tired and out of ideas. A huge shame because it’s actually got a far better concept than the Dead Man’s Chest/At World’s End storyline, but it’s just so sloppily executed, and it feels unsure of itself. The franchise would take a hiatus before releasing the fifth film, but if On Stranger Tides signified anything, it’s that this franchise had officially been marked for death.
The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels have never held a candle to The Curse of the Black Pearl, but On Stranger Tides makes the franchise feel genuinely tired and out of ideas. A huge shame because it’s actually got a far better concept than the Dead Man’s Chest/At World’s End storyline, but it’s just so sloppily executed, and it feels unsure of itself. The franchise would take a hiatus before releasing the fifth film, but if On Stranger Tides signified anything, it’s that this franchise had officially been marked for death.