Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

• Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he's not sure if it's love—or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the "Queen Anne's Revenge," the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past.


• This is yet another one of the movies so far this summer that is entertaining . . . . . . . but could have been better. Movies like this frustrate the hell out of me because I enjoy watching them but feel unsatisfied. If you liked the other Pirates movies, you will like this one as well. It just could have been better . . . . . . and shorter. Take out the priest guy and the mermaid having to be substitute Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly and this movie could have easily been 30 minutes shorter. And the change in directors totally shows in the lack of "crispness" in the action scenes. In the first three movies the action was way over the top but it was fast moving so you suspend your disbelief about Jack always working his way out of situations. In this one, the action was just as over the top but it was moving so slow that I found myself wondering how in the hell the soldiers weren't up to him yet. There was one scene where he escaped the king of England and I felt like he was running around on a table forever with everyone just standing around waiting for him to be gone. In the first three you would blink and the awesome action scene would be over.


• Even with all the negative ranting, I would still recommend people checking this out. The Jack Sparrow character is still great, the story is still twisty-turvy and intriguing, and there are still plenty of laughs. It just could have easily been much better and tighter.