The thing that bugs me is a fourth movie in a trilogy. Unless it's a reboot or a sequel with a different approach, like "Scream 4," or "Live Free or Die Hard," there should really be a time when the series should pull the plug. "On Stranger Tides" is the fourth in the series, and as typical, it's the worst of the series. It starts off with Jack Sparrow in his adventurous witty mode as he escapes the British soldiers in London. This was a very interesting beginning for me because it introduced Jack in a strange way, like all of his entrances, and it sets up the tone of the movie. However, the rest just goes downhill from this point. First off, does he really want to find the Fountain of Youth, or was he forced into it? Does he have a proper motivation and a proper character arc? Later on, Jack gets kidnapped by Angelica, the new character in the series who serves as his love/hate interest. He is brought on board of the Queen Anne's Revenge where we get to meet new people, new villains, and new henchmen who are all off to find the fountain, along with Barbossa, and the Spanish armada.
The movie lacks a powerful villain. In this movie, Blackbeard controls a voodoo like power, which is not revealed why to the audience. He also torches a poor crew member for mutiny. This was a poor set up for a villain. One, he does a clichéd tactic of being a villain by killing off a crew member, and he is never given any back story. The one motivation he has is based off of a rumor. His zombie henchmen are never explained at all. If we don't know about them, then we don't care, and if we don't care, then they are not much of a threat.
I had some doubt when walking into the crowded theater filled with Jack Sparrow fans, but I thought, "Hey, it can't be as bad as the third movie." Sad to say, it was. But this gets to me. Why do we root for Jack Sparrow? Because he has a unique personality. He is the baffling and mysterious character. However, when you put a mysterious character as the main character, then how can we truly relate to him? There were many criticisms over Will and Elizabeth, mainly because they weren't really pirates, but merely fillers. Now, I know why they put those two in. They are, what I call, the guiding characters. You see, guiding characters are the clueless characters who are confused at the plot like we are. In "Inception," the guiding character was Ariadne. In the first Harry Potter movies, it was Harry Potter. These characters are told the ways of the settings and the story so that we can understand it. In the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Barbossa tells Elizabeth about the Aztec curse and he tells it as if he was reading a story book. This worked really well. In here, we don't know about Blackbeard's voodoo powers, we don't know much about the Spanish and their monotonous motivation in finding the fountain. In the end, we just don't care anymore.
Was there a spark in this movie at all? The battles are pointless in the movie and there were no ship battles or any sword fights that were memorable. The new director was emphasizing on the story, rather than actions, but all we get is nothing out of it. The mermaid scene was interesting but also hard to watch as it reminded me of dolphin hunting. This is a pretty dark scene for a Disney movie.
Lastly, although the series is full of adventures, the ultimate part of it is the underlying message. In the first movie, the message was about accepting one's identity. In the second, it was about confronting your fears head on. In the third one, it was the about sacrificing ultimate power in order to save a friend. In the fourth one, we have nothing.
There is the relationship with Philip, the priest, and Syrena that does kind of work, however, they are not the main characters and we don't meet them until we really get far into the movie. Another thing that worked for me was Barbossa. In the other movies, he was a mysterious character. However, we get to know his back story, and his motivation. It felt that Barbossa was the only character who gave a damn.
This hype needs to die down. Why do we watch Pirates of the Caribbean? So we can feel and be a part of a character's journey. Why did we watch the fourth movie? Because it's a sequel. Before watching a movie that's going to be a sure box office hit, make sure you check the title. It has nothing to do with the any tides, but it is strange. Not the mysterious fantasy strange, but the alienated strange. It's probably me talking because while everyone applauded at the end, I refuse to do so, but let it be served that when you get an alienated strange feeling, then stay away from that movie.
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