Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Posted by Stormer007 from Cardiff - Published on 18/05/2011 at 10:23
6 comments » - Tagged as Movies, Music

Writer’s note: I highly recommend listening to the video when reading this. It only increases the awesomeness of it all. Thanks.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane
12A, 136mins

What could I possibly say that would excite you even more about this film? Film is not even the correct word for this masterpiece. It is so much more than just a film. It is an experience. One that should not be missed, under any circumstances.

Johnny Depp returns as the beautiful, insane, infamous and loved Jack Sparrow… there should be a Captain in there somewhere. Jack finds himself tricked by a beautiful, yet deadly Angelina. Penelope Cruz pulls off sexy, dangerous and good-hearted very well. Add to this already dreamlike cast Geoffrey Rush, who returns to the Caribbean as Barbosa, Jack’s arch rival. Seeing as it’s Geoffrey Rush, I don’t think you need me to tell you that he is superb. And last, but by no means least is the main antagonist of this dastardly plot… the terrible and fearsome Blackbeard, played beautifully by Ian McShane.

Now, with the primary cast out of the way, let’s move on to the story shall we? Masterfully written, this film encapsulates every aspect of a good movie: it is entertaining, daring, funny, romantic, includes heartbreak and above all, it is epic. But in the proper sense of the word. As the lights go down and the music starts to play, we find ourselves transported to London, and although the year is not given it’s safe to assume it’s pretty long ago.

After a pretty epic escape scene (you’ll know the one I’m talking about) we discover that the Fountain of Youth has become this year’s hotspot with both Spain and England both desperate to find it before the other. Add to this our Pirate representatives, the terrifying Blackbeard and his crew and you have three supreme forces all racing to be the first to claim and utilise the magic of the Fountain. What could possibly go wrong?

Throughout the film we are treated to some heart-stopping stunts and pulse-intensifying fight scenes. Add to this battles by the dozen and special effects by the barrel (quite literally in some cases). I was grinning throughout the large majority of the film, simply out of boyish glee at seeing all the amazing fight scenes, stunts, explosions and plenty of beautiful mermaids.

However, there were times when I was not grinning so much. Despite the large role that silliness, big stunts and special effects play in this film, they do not detract from the beautifully written sub-stories, such as a man who falls in love with a dangerous mermaid. The acting alone in some of the more romantic and heart-wrenching scenes is enough to bring a tear to your eye.

The film is accompanied by a genius musical score by the mastermind, Hans Zimmer. His creations are as heart-racing as they are bloody brilliant. Not the best evaluation there, but in all honesty, Zimmer’s music does something to me that I can’t explain. I cannot hope to explain the effect that the music in this film has on me. So instead of a creatively written evaluation of his masterpieces, you’ll simply have to take what I give you and run with it. I did. In fact, I was running up and down the cinema throughout the credits, with Zimmer’s music leading my feet and my hands in a ten minute dance of epic awesomeness… yes, I am that cool!

Speaking of credits, and as the final part to this recommendation, if Hans Zimmer’s music isn’t enough to keep you in the cinema throughout the credits, listen well ye scurvy dogs… there be a reward dearer than gold to those o’ ye with the patience to wait. Enjoy it ye lice ridden cockroaches.

Rating: 10/10

Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides? Comment below with your thoughts!

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6 Comments – Post a comment

neilramsden

Commented 12 months ago - 18th May 2011 - 12:06pm

I suspect I'll be disagreeing with this review, as good as it is to read! But I'll withold judgement until I've seen the film...

RoLouG

Commented 12 months ago - 28th May 2011 - 18:16pm

I played this peice of music in my orchestra, its amazing! Hans Zimmer is fantastic, he also wrote the amazing music to Gladiator and Inception. The Pirates music is very similar to Gladiator :) Great review, it't interesting how both your opinions differ, I look forward to seeing the film myself. I'm a big Pirates fan!

Sambow

Commented 11 months ago - 2nd June 2011 - 14:33pm

Being a fan from the first movie I knew about the "reward dearer than gold" so stayed to watch it- they're always worth the wait!
I agree with your review- I thought the film had some lengthy action sequences which were fun to watch and I also enjoyed the sub plot with the mermaid. The only dissapointment was that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley's whole story had seemed to have been forgotten so this film lacked a plot that was as deep and as captivating as the previous three in this quadrilogy. Despite this I've always been a sucker for Captain Jack Sparrow and the whole adventure with pirates was enough to tide me over- I really enjoyed the film; great review! :D

CLICdan

Commented 11 months ago - 2nd June 2011 - 14:35pm

I was hoping the bit at the end would explain what happened to the priest dude and the mermaid. I wanted to know whether he turned into a merman or just...drowned.

Also: If the voodoo doll spent half the movie floating around in the ocean, why didn't Jack spend half the movie feeling wet (and also drowning)?

RoLouG

Commented 11 months ago - 2nd June 2011 - 16:46pm

I have to say I saw the film yesterday and really enjoyed it. I spent half the time laughing and then I wanted to see it all over again. I was glad they left the Orlando Bloom/ Keira Knightley plot out of it, it would have been dragging it out far too much if they had brought them back. Also if you watch right to the end of the film, there is a little 2 minute thing that kind of ends the story.