Film Review | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Being the fourth part of a saga which began as a film adaptation of a Disney theme park ride makes you a fit contender for the unhallowed halls of cinematic whoredom. But so strong, and so beloved is Johnny Depp’s dastardly pirate Captain Jack Sparrow that to give the series the benefit of the doubt purely on the basis of his performance is actually a tenable possibility for most cinemagoers.

It is, after all, probably one of the only reasons why people are still packing in the multiplexes to see the latest ‘Pirates’ instalment – 3D glasses embarrassingly plastered across their face – despite the departure of romantic co-leads Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom and the previous trilogy’s director, Gore Verbinski (now replaced by Chicago’s Rob Marshall).

Depp’s Keith Richards-inspired mannerisms – the rock star reprises his role as Sparrow’s father – even scored him an Oscar nomination: again, staggering for a film that began its life as a theme park ride that inspired a video game which was in turn inspired by a novel.

And now, the new team is in fact going back to their source. On Stranger Tides, an alternate-history fantasy romp penned by Tim Powers and published in 1987, took the historical pirate Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach and spun him into a story about the fountain of youth… and much else besides.

It all sounds like a photocopy of a photocopy, thrice removed from any source of genuine inspiration.
So faced with the prospect of two and half hours of this, I was expecting to be gagged by a Happy Meal-baiting barrage of more of the same. What I found surprising is that I didn’t, in fact, mind it one bit.

There’s never a dull moment in Sparrow’s life: when we are reintroduced to the world’s favourite pirate, he is busy evading court execution. He is also missing a ship, as his friend-and-foe colleague Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) has supposedly allowed the legendary Black Pearl to sink.

Now allied to the British crown as a privateer, Barbossa attempts to strong-arm Sparrow into giving up the map to the Fountain of Youth, as the nautical grapevine is teeming with several parties chasing after the immortality-granting location.

Sparrow manages to escape, but it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as he is reunited with an embittered ex, Angelica (Penelope Cruz). Hitching a ride on her ship, he gradually discovers that it belongs to the diabolical Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who also happens to be her father, and who is at the helm of one of the four parties headed on a collision course to the Fountain of Youth…

I welcomed a break from Knightley and Bloom – an overrated couple of thesps and more annoying together than apart – but their part-time replacements – in the guise of clergyman Philip Swift (Sam Claflin) and mermaid Syrena (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey), both held hostage by Blackbeard – feel a bit redundant. Also, the layers of cross and double cross play to such a familiar rhythm now that it almost feels like they’ve lost their purpose.

But apart from the obvious pluses we were all expecting – Sparrow being Sparrow, zany set pieces and equally colourful characters, exotic locales and set pieces and a script laced with chuckle-worthy innuendo – the film rises above being manufactured dross thanks to superb performances from Cruz and McShane – they both play it straight and give it their A-game.

Cruz – sexy and sassy as ever – warrants her own spinoff, and the always menacing McShane is a pure joy to watch, playing a character that appears specifically designed for him to have fun with.

As the country teems with referendum fatigue, a harmless fantasy adventure is not the worst thing you could indulge in.