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So Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has rolled into a multiplex near you. Judging by the packed houses (and those waiting to get into the show) this movie is a critic-proof as the other three. (I fact, the domestic take was estimated nearly 350 million dollar world wide.) Fans of the series will find lots of their old favorites back again: Johnny Depp is still having fun as Captain Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa is still oozingly venomous. Many popular supporting characters are back (at least for a bit). The movie is substantially shorter than "P of the C3" and it doesn't suffer for that. You have lots of action and classy effects to keep you on your seat and lots of clever bits to keep you amused when there's no fighting on screen. Penelope Cruz steps into the franchise as Blackbeard's daughter Angelica and she is, in many ways, a female version of Jack so she is an especially good foil for him.
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The not so good news is--you've seen this all before: the addition of a strong female character for Captain Jack to play against is a good things for the series but that's about all you can say for new material. Yes, there's plenty of cleverness but there's nothing new to recommend it. I almost got the feeling that cast and crew alike were "phoning in" their performances: I don't know what I was looking for but I didn't find it here. Oh--they set up for a fifth installment so I guess we can expect even more Pirates come May 2013. Still, if you liked the first three (and aren't too judgemental) you'll probably like this one as well: there's plenty of time to enjoy the movie so go have some empty-headed fun if that's what you're looking for.
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FINAL GRADE: B-
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