By Jason Apuzzo. THE PITCH: With seductive mermaids, the Spanish fleet, and a cranky Geoffrey Rush standing in their way, Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow leads saucy pirate wench Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane as Blackbeard on a quest for the mythical Fountain of Youth.
THE SKINNY: After the previous film’s reportedly $300 million budget, Disney’s formidable Pirates franchise goes on a diet – as this slightly undernourished sequel jettisons the heavy VFX sequences of the past, but makes up for them with humor and a colorful turn by Ian McShane as the legendary, real-life pirate Edward Teach/Blackbeard, along with a long-overdue love interest for Captain Jack in the form of a fiery and duplicitous Penélope Cruz.
WHAT WORKS:
• Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow schtick has been refined down to a pleasant bouillabaisse of squints, smirks, pirouettes and self-effacing one-liners. It all works here again, like clockwork, and it’s the key to what makes these films tick. While most of the Pirates cast typically get lost in their costumes or heavy make-up, Depp is the only one who really seems to feel at home – always bringing a lightness of touch to the proceedings. Whatever Disney’s paying him, it’s worth it, as the franchise would be lost without his good humor.
• Even though they’re a bit too covered-up for my tastes, the film’s exciting mermaids add to the growing catalogue of vivid mythological creatures already encountered in this series.
• Typical of the Pirates series, the film’s production design is rich and sumptuous. Also helping matters out in giving the film a lavish touch is Hans Zimmer’s score, aided here by guitar flourishes from the Mexican musical pair Rodrigo y Gabriela.
• An absolutely priceless cameo from Keith Richards, who utters what’s probably the film’s most memorable line.
WHAT DOESN’T WORK:
• Geoffrey Rush is an actor I’ve never warmed to, and this film doesn’t help matters. For someone so vexatious, with a permanently constipated look on his face, he certainly gets a lot of screen time.
• In comparison to the vast VFX spectacles of the past, this new Pirates feels a little on the smallish side – and some sequences feel like filler. Also: I’m not certain that the film’s payoff at the end – at the Fountain of Youth – really packs enough of a punch, given what we’ve become accustomed to from this series.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Continue reading Avast! LFM Mini-Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides