Pirates des Caraïbes: La Fontaine de jouvence

The franchise has shifted. The 'first trilogy' was visually-centered. It was quite literally a ride, allowing Depp room to creatively be silly. Some of the cinematic stretch was significant, and I still remember the Shackleford reference fondly.

This is something entirely different. Sure, it has busy sequences and characters from the same universe. But now we have something story- centric. Images are pasted onto the story rather than the other way around.

There's even an excess of story and excess within story with the excess being a character itself.

There are at least three love stories, one of them tender and conventional, all of them centered on Catalonian women.

There is something of an overarching battle between Christianity and the supernatural. The extreme irony is that the Spaniards are the token of the faith. In actual life, they were the ones who invented the notions of supernatural evil, the first continental faith-based genocide and New World slavery.

There is a nice little revenge story that references Moby Dick. And at the end two Peter Pan like affirmations of the (pirate's) life of adventure.

I liked it. I liked the gush and mix of narrative. I liked the appropriation of Almodovarian values. But I have to say that no one knew how to leverage Penelope the way Pedro can. She is not inventive like Johnny and Geoffrey. She is a vessel, a vulnerable vessel that can be filled with female assets. But she has to gather that from the environment. Making her into something even Geena Davis and her lover could not do is a sacrilege.

I had previously enjoyed the first and third of the Johnny Depp pirate movies though I was confused by some of the sequences. This one that I just watched with my movie theatre-working friend, I understood a bit more and, as a result, I enjoyed a little more especially with the addition of the beautiful Penelope Cruz as a former paramour who may or may not be on his side. There's also some good sequences with some mermaids that positively floored me with how they operate here. And the return of Geoffrey Rush as the one-legged crew member was also a treat here. Plenty of witty lines from Depp and some good swashbuckling sequences here and there were also good under new director Rob Marshall. So on that note, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is highly recommended.

These Pirates films are all about entertainment and thankfully this latest adventure with Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm is back to basics, reminding me of the formula that made the very first one, Curse of the Black pearl so great. Don't worry I won't give anything away here but be aware that the opening 20 minutes is one funny sequence and quirky one liner after another. There is also a couple of hilarious cameos, one may be familiar but the other was a right royal shock. Depp walks through his lethargic swaying pirate character with ultimate ease, while new high seas bad boy Blackbeard is exceptional, but not as cool as Sparrows former flame played by Cruz. She is foxy, feisty and funny. The action is elevated by some wonderful 3D effects but I am sure the film would be just as rocking without it. Finally, the highlight is the Mermaid scenes. As dark as they are, they take the viewer into their web of intrigue. Australian Gemma Ward even sings during an evocative moment. Remember to stay on after the credits for an EXTRA scene. After the last two installments left me crying with disappointment, I Loved it.

Greetings again from the darkness. I will make no apology for being a fan of the "Pirates" series. This is the fourth film and the best since the first. Though I liked them enough, I felt the second and third depended too much on special effects and the need to overwhelm, whereas this one concentrates more on the colorful characters. This latest entry is also directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago") rather than Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three.

Of course, what really matters is that Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow. And in fine form, I might add. He comes across more clever, witty and less buffoonish than in the previous two. His character is much better as a worthy adversary than a clown prince. In this one, he alternates between matching wits and swords with no less than three characters. First, Geoffrey Rush is back as Barbossa. Only this time, he seems to have gone legit with the King's navy. Next we have Sparrow's long-lost love from Seville played by Penelope Cruz. They also match wits and swords (and facial hair). Lastly, we have the legendary pirate Blackbeard, played with full force by Ian McShane. Were it not a Disney movie, McShane could have made his Blackbeard one of the most frightening characters ever seen on screen. Even with the limitations, he performs exceedingly well.

The "plot" of the film involves the search for Ponce de Leon's ship and the much desired Fountain of Youth. The race is on between Sparrow, Blackbeard, the Spainiards and Barbossa who is acting on behalf of King George (a wonderful Richard Griffiths). As always, it's not always easy to tell which characters are partners and which are adversaries. That's half the fun! An interesting twist is that in order to have the desired results from the infamous fountain, one must drink from a specific chalice and include a single mermaid tear. Of course, everlasting youth shouldn't be too easy to achieve. The mermaid sequences are fascinating, though we really only get to know one of them - Syrena played with soulful eyes by Astrid Berges-Frisbey.

Thankfully, two long time characters are absent from this film - Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Both were dead-weight that caused major drag in the two most recent Pirates films. Cruz and McShane are infinitely more interesting and entertaining and play off of Captain Jack much better.

Speaking of Depp's Jack Sparrow, I would make the argument that this character has entered the rarefied air of film comedy icon. I would put him at or near the level of the all-time best recurring comic characters: Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers, NOT Steve Martin), Austin Powers (Mike Myers) and the Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin). Of course, there are loads of others that have made a name for themselves but are a step below: Ernest (Jim Varney), Fletch (Chevy Chase), Wayne and Garth (Wayne's World), Riggs and Murtaugh (Lethal Weapon), etc. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

As I have stated many times, comedy is such a personal choice that it's always difficult to review. What sets the Pirate's films apart (especially one and four) are the characters combined with action and witty banter. No, it's not for everyone, but if you like this style, it's difficult to beat.

In movies, as in marriage, the fourth go-around can get a little tricky. As the fourth round approaches there's an apprehension of what has come before and what is new that is left to be discovered. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the third sequel in Disney's highly-successful series, is not a movie that I went into with much anticipation. Yet, as I always do, I allowed myself to be open minded (you never know when a movie will surprise you) and I found the movie quite enjoyable.

My apprehension comes from the experience of the previous films, which I complained were too long and so overwritten as to become convoluted. That's not good for what should be a simple pirate movie. Having left behind many of the familiar characters (Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly and Jonathan Price are absent this time), the movie is free to find new characters and a new arena to play in. With that, this is a kind of trimmed down POTC movie.

The movie finds the ever-plucky sea-going rascal Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) once again in trouble with the King's court and about to be executed. That is, until one of his crew produces a map to the fabled Fountain of Youth, rumored to have been found 200 years before by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. Jack makes a spectacular escape and the race is on race to find the fountain, which is headed off first by the Spanish fleet and then by the British fleet. Trailing them are Jack and his nemesis Captain Barbossa (Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush), who is a privateer under the orders of King George II (Richard Griffiths). Then there is Angelica (Oscar winner Penelope Cruz), who is first mate on the ship captained by Blackbeard (Ian McShane) - whose beard is actually gray, but never mind.

The plot to get to the fountain of youth is probably more complicated than it needs to be. Getting to the fountain is easy enough, but then we learn that it is not a simple matter of taking a dip and becoming younger, no. First, Jack learns, you must first get two goblets belonging to Ponce de León, then you have to mix it with the tears of a mermaid, then (I think I have this right), one person has to drink from one cup to become younger and then another person has to drink from the other and they will die. Something along those lines. As I said, it is more complicated than it needs to be.

The plot, as in the previous installments, is somewhat superfluous. There really isn't a need to get to the fountain of youth. There probably wasn't any need for mermaids that can suck your blood, nor, all that stuff about voodoo and shrinking massive ships until you can fit them into bottles. Yet, what I have learned about this series is that the plot really doesn't matter. These films are constructed more as a series of set pieces rather than a narrative plot. I appreciated the mermaids but, this being a Disney film, the all-out boob-fest that should have ensued sadly never materializes.

What keeps this series popular is quality control. Johnny Depp maintains the same swagger and slurry charm that he had in the previous films. He keeps from taking the film too seriously but avoids the temptation to make fun of the character. The first film got him his first Oscar nomination, and justifiably so. Eight years, and three sequels later, Depp maintains the fun spirit of the character and doesn't allow it to grow routine. Neither does Geoffrey Rush, in his third go-around as Captain Barbossa, which he plays with an evil wink and a pirate accent that he practically chews on. Penelope Cruz gives a nice performance here and proves - to me at least - that she should have been the female protagonist of the series all along instead of Kiera Knightly. Yet, I was surprisingly underwhelmed by Ian McShane's performance as Blackbeard. McShane is a wonderful actor but somehow Blackbeard seems subdued. He is pure evil, right down to the buckles on his boots but the character doesn't leap out with the lip-smacking vileness that I had hoped. The movie pins the character down as if they are introducing him to be in a future movie.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" is probably the best of the series since the first one. That is thanks to a leaner script and, mercifully, a shorter running time (it is actually an hour shorter than the last one). I could complain about it all day long, but I would rather confess that I was more entertained by this film than I was by the previous two.

Disney has found a gold mine with this series. Convoluted as these movies are, they do have an audience and I am glad to see anything that gets movie fans excited. Yet, there is a feeling that this series may be wrapping up. Johnny Depp has said that he is growing tired of playing Jack Sparrow (although it does not come out in his performance) and that may bring about an end to this "Pirates" series. With that, I started thinking that maybe Disney would do well to move on to something else, maybe Treasure Island, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, Moby Dick. Maybe the same fun-loving spirit that made this series so popular could be given to those classics as well.