I was invited last monday at the press screening of Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" and here is my review. So, did i liked it? Yes i did - not as much as the first POTC movie, though, but i think it was pretty good. I specially enjoyed the Rob Marshall filming that i found a bit more "stylised" than the three first movies. I will try to don't spoil in this review the whole story but i warn you that there will be some inevitable spoilers below.
What i can say is that the storyline is a bit like "Treasure Island" - a group of people are sailing overseas to find an island - except that in this case they are "three" groups who don't look for an island with a treasure but with the fountain of youth. Which, i agree, is a different kind of "treasure".
I liked very much the beginning in London - an old 18th century London to be precise. Captain Jack Sparrow try to help one of his friend to escape...only to discover that someone else is using his name to enroll sailors for a long trip overseas. However Jack is captured and it's in this opening sequence that we also see the return of Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. Below, a short clip of Jack's escape in London in front of the king of England.
The trip to the fountain of youth island will not be that easy, specially considering that they need to capture a mermaid for a reason i don't disclose here. The mermaids sequence is one of my favorites and i think they did a pretty good job on this one. More adventures awaits Jack and his friends before they arrive at the fountain of youth and i let you the pleasure to discover them.
About the actors, now. Johnny Depp is playing Jack Sparrow just like the filming didn't stopped since the third movie, but there is nothing really surprising in the way he plays it. Ian McShane is playing a dreadful Blackbeard - who is able to create zombies - and is very good, and Geoffrey Rush playing Barbossa is absolutely formidable. But Geoffrey is such a great and enjoyable actor that each scene he's in is saved by the way he acts. Penelope Cruz is not bad at all, actually. She is Blackbeard's daughter and she is doing a good job, just like Astrid Berges-Frisbey who plays one of the mermaids.
There is less supernatural elements than in the three previous POTC movies - the part with the zombies is very short - but the production of the movie is really good. Actually, they even succeed to place a scene from the POTC attraction, and it's the one that DLP guests can see at the end of the ride when you're in the treasure grotto scene. Just in front of the treasure there is the "captain cabin" scene with a skeleton sitting in an old luxurious bed, and you will see the same scene inside the Ponce de Leon ship, a spaniard ship who disappeared since 200 years and that everyone is looking for for reasons you will see in the movie.
This next video will show you some scenes with Blackbeard and also the zombies and the mermaids.
A few last words about the 3D. As usual 3D is used to give some depth and there is just a few pop-up effects, but not mre than five or six. Personnally i think that in this case the 3D, although well done, doesn't brings a lot to the movie and i even think that i would have prefered to watch it in 2D. If you can't see it in 3D, don't worry, you won't miss a lot.
Just let us know in the comments what you think of this Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides"!
Pictures and videos: copyright Disney
