If you haven’t heard of the Pirates franchise you must have been living in a rock. The first three films were some of the highest grossing movies ever. Johnny Depp has gone from underground and weird to overground and still a bit weird.
The plot of this instalment is a lot easier to understand than the last two films. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this film could be viewed as a self-contained entity, which is rare praise for a blockbuster in the past five years. It is left open for a squeal but there doesn’t have to be one for it to make sense.
Basically, there is a race to find the fountain of youth and everyone has their motivations. Geoffery Rush is Captain Barbossa and is amazing, as is Ian McShane as Blackbeard. Johnny Depp’s portrayal as Captain Jack is even more over the top and quite predictable but that’s okay because Captain Jack is fantastic. As a side note, I was very impressed by Keith Richards’ acting chops in his brief cameo.
What I found most disappointing about the film is the typical portrayal of the damsel in distress. As the story of Grainne O Malley shows, a strong woman pirate isn’t too far fetched but Penelope Cruz’s character fails to live up to expectations.
However, all in all this is an exciting swashbuckling adventure. And what else would you expect when you go to see a pirate movie.
