Grade: A (for Pirates fans) B (for everyone else)
The Good: Capt. Jack and his wily antics (as always); intriguingly complex plotting with some relatively challenging issues at heart; Expands Pirate-verse with trademark charm and intrigue.
The Bad: Complex to the point of complication; Cruz and McShane are a tad overhyped and nowhere near as interesting as original cast members. Murky pallete+3D glasses make some action tough to see
The Ugly: The price of a ticket to see this in IMAX 3D (no matter how much it’s worth it).
There’s one consistent truth to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow—excuse me, Captain—is unquestionably the star, but the stories never truly belong to him. Capt. Jack is a scene-stealer, for sure, and the character generations will remember when they think of Pirates of the Caribbean, but even relieved of the Turner-Swan saga, Jack still hasn’t completely taken center stage.
That’s not a bad thing. Captain Jack prancing through the proceedings as a devil-may-care, sharper-than-he-looks trickster may keep him from being the chief protagonist of the Pirates films, but it allows these blockbusters to engage in complex—some may say complicated—storytelling with charismatic characters whose conflicting motivations reveal more depth than most movies like this ever dare to.
On Stranger Tides, based on Tim Powers 1987 novel of the same name, follows Capt. Jack as he is forced by a piggish King George (a goofy cameo by occasional Depp costar Richard Griffiths) to lead perennial rival, and newly minted privateer, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to Ponce de Leon’s legendary fountain of youth, which our wily anti-hero had his sights set on at the end of the first trilogy. Along the way, Jack runs afoul of old friends—including steadfast first mate Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally)—and new frenemies like the duplicitous Angelica (Penelope Cruz), daughter of a fairly unknown pirate, Edward Teach, who goes by the nickname Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Cajoled into serving on Blackbeard’s living ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Capt. Jack must outwit all sides to reach the fountain before his multiple enemies allies do. Also charting a course to fountain of youth are agents of Spain’s King Ferdinand VI, who have their own agenda for the source of the mystical aqua de vida.
Johnny Depp brings Capt. Jack alive as only he can after a few years away from the character. This time, Jack is a bit more subdued, but no less crafty. The Pirates movies have gotten less and less lighthearted and humorous as they increase in complexity and ambition, but Capt. Jack continues to make audiences snicker with his sly subversive digs and observations. The good captain may not be as riotous as he was in the initial installment, but audiences can still count on Depp to deliver a winking performance that’s rife with mischievous charm. Geoffrey Rush continues to prove himself Depp’s perfect foil. Ever eloquent and consistently cunning, Rush’s Barbossa nurses some new wounds that make him even more dangerous. Rush rises to the challenge—as if there was any doubt—by balancing Barbossa’s trademark civility with a simmering anger.
New to the Pirates-verse are Penelope Cruz’s Angelica and Ian McShane’s Blackbeard, who are truly the engines of this story. Their quest for the fountain is driven as much by their connection to each other as it is by deeper issues of fate and redemption (yes, these concerns really do surface in Pirates movie, again). Cruz plays Angelica as a slightly feistier version of most female characters who cross paths with Capt. Jack. She’d be in love with him if she didn’t want to smack and/or kill him. As such, she barely registers as significantly different from Kiera Knightley’s Elizabeth Swan and Angelica’s journey is not likely to endear her with fans of Mr. Sparrow. McShane’s Blackbeard brings his silver-tongued menace to the table as the merciless pirate, who may or may not be particularly interested in redeeming his soul before a prophesy that will claim his life comes to pass. Essentially, he’s just playing Al Swearengen in the Age of Discovery. The fact that Blackbeard is so detached from characters who aren’t Angelica makes him a cold, but not a particularly engaged threat on the level of Barbossa or even Davy Jones, who both had a personal stake in challenging Capt. Jack.
Director Rob Marshall does a fine job of aping the visual template Gore Verbinski laid forth in the first trilogy. The world of Stranger Tides is visually on par with the later films, particularly Dead Man’s Chest, albeit darker and earthier. The darker palette makes a few of the elaborate action scenes a bit murky, but this is as much a visual issue as a problem with watching the flick through 3D glasses. Marshall also shows a deft hand at Pirates’ kitchen sink approach to the supernatural. In Stranger Tides, Jack and his compatriots encounter more than a few “beasties”, from zombified pirate slaves—again—to mermaids and magical ships. As usual, the supernatural aspect is never obnoxious or overplayed. Thanks to some exceptional work by ILM and the practical makeup teams, the creatures, especially the mermaids, don’t look as cartoonish as Davy Jones’ barnacled crewmen. But, the most impressive thing Marshall does—and I believe a lion’s share of the credit here goes to Pirates’ screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Russo—is graft some significant layering to the story.
Essentially, Stranger Tides is a fetch quest, as most fantasy/action/sci-fi flicks are these days. However, the character’s reasons for pursuing the fountain are rooted in some fairly challenging issues. Questions of faith are raised by the presence of not only the Spanish Catholics, but by missionary Phillip (Sam Claflin), a prisoner of Blackbeard and another would-be successor to the Will Turner spot. Phillip may seem to only be around as an extra piece of eye candy and half of a romantic subplot, but he, much like the Spanish, represents the presence of organized religion and monotheistic faith in a world of magic and superstition. The conflict between the two worlds is something that, with more time, could prove very intriguing for this film series. Questions of redemption and family responsibility, present in Dead Man’s Chest and World’s End, resurface and form the crux of the Angelica-Blackbeard arc, in a sinister twist on the William-Bootstrap plotline. All in all, Stranger Tides continues the trend of the last two Pirates movie by daring to be complex at the risk of losing its audience.
Folks who were exasperated by the intrigue and dueling machinations of World’s End and Dead Man’s Chest may be miffed at the maneuvering in Stranger Tides, which is significantly lesser than in other Pirates movies. Thankfully, the pacing is smooth—moving from action packed set-piece to exposition with ample balance—and should retain most viewers’ attention for the length of its two and a half hour runtime (fans should of course hang back at the end for the after-the–credits stinger). For those who weren’t fans of the last two, Stranger Tides won’t change any minds, but it does offer a more streamlined approach with less mythology and characters to follow. For those who love Pirates or want to see a fantasy that delivers a great balance of action, character and slightly complex storytelling, Pirates is as perfect as it ever was. So, go ahead…follow that horizon. It’s worth it...mostly.
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