Pirates of the Caribbean

The fourth installment of Jack Sparrow’s swashbuckling adventure is an adaptation of Tim Powers award winning book, “On Stranger Tides”. Depp is back in top form as Sparrow and Cruz’s alluring Angelica adds some spice as Sparrow’s love interest greatly missing from the other three films. Equally engaging are the performances of Rush and McShane. Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards introduces us briefly to Sparrow’s father. Their performances provide a good diversion for the audience from Depp’s odd ball character.

The opening scene sees Captain Jack hurling himself out of the frying pan and into the fire, escaping being locked up in jail, only to find himself in the company of the motley crew of the notorious Captain Blackbeard. The opening sequence is set against the back drop of old London and features the kind of lively comedy of errors Jack is always so good at getting into, jumping from carriage to carriage, swinging off chandeliers, with just enough time left to wreck havoc in the dining room of King George II, before escaping into the streets of London, yet again.

The new direction makes this film less family oriented than the last three with a more complex storyline owing to borrowings from Power’s novel and the new director, Rob Marshall (Previously three pictures directed by Gore Verbinski). I felt it lost some of its fun and magic from its earlier formula but then again, if it did keep to the last formula, I might complain of the writers complacency so if you watch it with an open mind just like listening to the next U2 or Pearl Jam album then the movie will be refreshingly entertaining.The younger audiences, though confused by the plot, will be engaged by the swordfights, carriage jumping and rope swinging stunts synonymous with pirate movies.

And then there is the 3D fad that seems to be sweeping many of the big productions. Many of the set-pieces are fun and nimble, though frustratingly hampered by needless 3D which knocks the pace of the action sequences. However, Hans Zimmer’s ever-excellent score pulls together all the rogue threads, keeping well within the range of the first film and injecting a vigorous dose of fun. Restrained and keeping convention, Pirates 4 is far from heading up the franchise, but remains a solid addition to the fleet.

Cumi adds that he much prefers non 3D works as directing and shooting a 3D movie requires a different level of expertise in film making. The cinematographer has to consider the effective use of the extra dimension to add new experiences for the audiences. He also prefers the old cardboard spectacles because the ones now doesn’t sit well with his nose bridge and its heavy.