On Stranger Tides: A review

Several months back, a trailer of Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides released which had the dialogues and I quote, “You are Jack.. Sparrow?” to which Jack Sparrow replies, “There should be a captain in there somewhere”. From then on, the trailer clearly indicated that it is going to be a Jack Sparrow show. It was good to know that news but yet, it crossed my mind that it should not be a pure Jack Sparrow show; cause that would be putting the entire burden on a single character and the expectations would be high.

Fortunately or unfortunately, in the movie; that is what happened. Jack Sparrow, though he did not dominate the movie, he was the main protagonist and had to endure yet another journey with few supporting characters complimenting him. It was a thrilling adventure and the movie makers proved the point that why they are one of the successful movie franchises. They used Jack Sparrow to the fullest but what certainly was wrong about the movie was Jack Sparrow himself.

There was some deviation in Sparrow's character; you could easily find it in the movie; he was shown as a lesser cunning, more of the good natured character that he probably isn't. The important point to be noted was that in the first three movies, Jack Sparrow wanted something in the adventure. This time, he didn't. That makes you think throughout the movie, “Oh, there he is! He is going to save the day”. In the first three movies, you would probably be like, “Hey there he is! I wonder what he is upto now!” Notice the difference.

The good things about the movie is that it is a great adventure ride and it did not lack the thrills and chills. Some of the enjoyable scenes are the mutiny against Blackbeard and the fear of Sparrow when he meets him. The mermaids scene was really well taken; the director showed both beauty and the beast in the mermaids and the scene was good.

Another of those disappointments would be the way the characters were wasted in the movie. For example, characters like Gibbs and Barbossa were not made complete use. The Blackbeard's character was not strong nor intimidating than the previous villains (Remember Davy Jones). Also, Angelica's character did not have any important part yet in this movie although her role in the movie is necessary. These many unused treasures makes you want the Flying Dutchman captained by Will Turner and also Elizabeth Turner. Gone are those tales, aren't they?

The movie is definitely worth a watch for all those adventure lovers and also, if you are a Jack Sparrow fan, you should not miss it. Also, as this movie goes on a different track than the first three movies, one need not watch the first trilogy. But the characters need to known and understood prior to watching this movie in order to completely love the characters. Savvy?

Rating: 7.5/10