Friday, 20 May 2011

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Review

Pirates of the Caribbean may just be this generation's answer to Indiana Jones, or Flash Gordon. It's the return of the classic adventure film, short in realism, but high on entertainment. It's superior to the two previous sequels. It seemed to me that this film was made as an apology for the convoluted mess that was "World's End", a way of bookending the saga in style. Gone are the needless exposition clogging up portions of the film, long, boring repetitive action set pieces, Orlando Bloom with a laughable attempt at a tough guy impression and Keira Knightly's chin. Instead we have a relatively easy to follow plot, plenty of eye candy, genuinely funny jokes and moments, likeable protagonists, love interests and villains, and plenty of digestible action.
There were some glaring issues I had that are unavoidable when writing a review. Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow takes centre stage in this film, whereas in the original trilogy he played second fiddle to Orlando Bloom. Now, I had my doubts whether Sparrow should be the main protagonist, since his whimsical, roguish act works best as a sidekick who the audience doubts and whose motives and goals aren't too clear. Take a similar character, Han Solo, a rogue who isn't always on the same side of the protagonist. He may be at odds with the heroes, like Solo was with Luke and Leia, and may be acting on selfish intentions, such as Solo saving Leia so he could pay off Jabba the Hutt. However, by the end of the film, the character may have a change of heart and reveal his true, noble colours and tip the scales in the hero's favour, as Han Solo does when he helps Luke blow up the Death Star. The same can be said of Sparrow in the first Pirates film, where he aids Will Turner in rescuing Elizabeth with the intention of getting back his ship, but ends up helping the good guys save the day. In "On Stranger Tides", there's none of that. You also need an outsider, an every man who the audience can identify with and have things explained to them. In the first "Pirates" film, that honour fell to Will Turner. We are invited to react, along with him, at the more fantastical elements of the film and at Jack Sparrow, who is supposedly nothing short of other-worldly. In this film, we don't have that. We are kept in the dark about Sparrow's intentions so we can't really relate to his emotionally, but when it seems that he doesn't have anything up his sleeve at all other than to help Angelica in exchange for his ship, it feels anti-climactic. Where is the famous Sparrow bluff? How will he get what he wants? But that happens off screen with Gibbs retrieving the Black Pearl in the bottle. Sparrow is still the same character, but less shady and more in the limelight, and it felt a little flat.
Penelope Cruz, well, is absolutely gorgeous, and a great "love interest". I felt some chemistry between her and Depp and she seemed to be having fun in the role. A real treat and my favourite thing in the film, an equal to Jack. Moving on...
Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa is great, and seems to fill the aforementioned disloyal rogue role left by Sparrow. He's a privateer in the British Navy now, sans one leg, and has been sent by the King to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish do. He sets off in pursuit of Black-Beard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, but has an ulterior motive: he plans on getting revenge on Black-beard for attacking and sinking the Black Pearl and taking his leg. Barbossa provided a lot of the laughs as an old sea dog who raises an eyebrow at the stupidity of those around him and at Jack Sparrow. He's a great character, and I wish we would have got more scenes between him and Jack and Black-beard, as I thought the back story where he lost his leg could have been expanded alot more and make the audience care, but other than that, he's fine. A memorable performance.
Ian McShane stars as the closest thing to a villain the film has, Captain Black-beard. I say closest thing, since he doesn't do anything particularly evil. Yes, he does kill someone, ONE mutineer, and yes he does have a cool gimmick of being able to control his fire-breathing ship. He looks like the stock villain, has a classic villain entrance, and some great lines and a bad-ass boat, but he's less of a villain and more of a strict task master. Apart from killing one man in a boat and leaving a mermaid to die he doesn't do anything. Okay, he sunk the Black Pearl and maimed Barbossa, but that was off screen, part of the back story. He's ineffectual to be honest and despite threatening people with death and teasing a missionary, he doesn't give off the impression that he's the most feared pirate in the world. He wants the Fountain of Youth so he can live longer- why should we care? And why would Jack Sparrow, the nearest thing to a hero, want to deprive him of that? He doesn't, and is quite happy to help Black-beard and Angelica find the Fountain. Shouldn't the hero have beef with the villain because, I don't know, Black-beard sunk the Black Pearl. Instead its Barbossa who has the revenge storyline. Maybe Sparrow and Barbossa should have teamed up to bring Black-beard down. Or maybe they did and I'm forgetting large plot points in the film and that's what happened. I believe Sparrow led Barbossa to the fountain, but he seemed angry at Barbossa for losing the ship than at Black-beard. A scene, 30-seconds maybe, showing Sparrow's reaction to Black-beard's crime and how he was being strung along by Angelica, giving us reason to care of a conflict that doesn't happen. There are no stakes at risk until the very end where we get the big "climactic battle", but it's like comparing Goldfinger to From Russia With Love. There's no emotional investment in what happens to the world, but what happens to the characters. However, I felt an opportunity with the father-daughter sub plot. It could have been left ambiguous, maybe Black-beard could have kidnapped her and made her his daughter or killed her real parents and used her to emotionally blackmail Jack Sparrow, I don't know. But there was an opportunity to turn that into something great, but, alas, it wasn't.
Such sub plots such as the romance between Jack Sparrow and Penelope Cruz's character, Angelica, and between the clergy man and the mermaid, are subverted and go against audience expectations. There's a clever twist at the climax involving what people want from the Fountain of Youth. Religious themes are explored without being shoved down our throats, the villain, Black-beard played by Ian McShane is no mere pantomime villain ala Davy Jones or Barbossa, but seems like a genuine person. There are little things that make all the difference, such as Stephan Graham's character, Scrum, providing a soundtrack to a heated discussion and deal between Sparrow and Angelina, the Queen Anne's Revenge crew plotting a mutiny with Jack, and a henchman throwing a voodoo doll of Jack over a cliff followed by a close up of the real Jack screaming. Yes, there's no shortage of laughs, I'm not ashamed to admit it. There are some weird bits like the stuff with the mermaids and the missionary that's bound to leave eyes rolling and heads being scratched, but that doesn't last very long. It doesn't drag and while the plot may be thin, there's still plenty to enjoy. The music, the characters, the set-pieces, all part of a Hollywood tapestry. I know people who will complain at the stupidity at it all and how it isn't realistic. Well, that's because it's pure fantasy, so lighten up. It's the great adventure film.
There's a satisfying climax where all plot points and parties converge. Nothing is forgotten about, no character is left behind, the dialogue is sharp and nothing seems pointless. Possibly it may have had something to do with the change of director. Some of the problems come down to sparse plot and sloppy writing, but the point of these films is escapism and fun. It's good at what it is: family-friendly fun with something for everyone. When that "Pirates" theme starts up at the start of a sword fight, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

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