*Raises flame shield and puts on troll armor*
Let me begin this by saying- If you love On Stranger Tides, i'm happy for you and respect that opinion. My opinion is not intended to invalidate yours. If you disagree and enjoyed it, more power to you. I'll give my semi-review and thoughts below.
I saw OST yesterday. My verdict was that it was somewhat average. Not great, but not bad. Kind of tethering on the edge of being just ok, though it's a fun enough summer flick. Mindless enjoyment. My biggest issue is that it doesn't feel like a POTC movie. I might applaud it for feeling different and trying to be its own story without being tied to the other 3, but i didn't like how it was handled. No sea battles either, i miss the large-scale battles at sea.
I also was very underwhelmed at Blackbeard. He was underdeveloped and bland with way too little meaningful dialog. His ship and voodoo power over it was cool, but it never explains it properly as far as i can tell, like how he got ahold of such power and became such a menace. Also, after experiencing Barbossa and Davy Jones from the other movies, they were far more creepy and fascinating villains IMO. Davy Jones in particular felt like the epitome of a threat you could create. And for "the pirate that all pirates fear", i didn't really grasp or feel that sense of fear myself. All other villains in the series felt much more interesting and creepy, even the minor ones like Pintel and Ragetti from the first movie. Heck, i was more interested in Lord Beckett.
AVAST, THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD. SO YE COME SEEKING SPOILERS ABOUT SALTY OL' PIRATES EH? YOU'VE COME TO THE PROPER PLACE. PAST THIS POINT, IT BE TOO LATE TO ALTER COURSE NOW MATIES! THESE BE THE LAST FRIENDLY WORDS YE'LL HEAR.
I also find myself missing the now dead or gone characters. And find myself uninterested for the most part in the new ones. Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann are no longer a part of the story. Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton (and Parrot), and Marty are apparently all dead by the time the movie begins. Tia Dalma is obviously not there anymore (fair enough of course, but would have been neat to see her in a temporary form again). Governor Swann is dead, as is James Norrington. So Jack Sparrow, Gibbs, and Barbossa are the only remaining characters from the prior films (nice to see Captain Teague, but he's gone before you know it). All returning characters do well as usual, though i feel Gibbs was under-played.
I do want to mention- it's interesting to see Jack more open about being a nice guy now. Several times during the movie, he takes an altruistic route and helps his friends/companions without a second thought. Or he'll give them advice on situations to better benefit them. He's much clearer with his moral sense than he was in previous films. His manner hasn't changed, but he's a little more outwardly caring this time.
In terms of new characters, mostly very bland. I actually disliked Angelica outright. Attractive though she may be, she feels useless and doesn't really contribute anything besides present a swashbuckling love interest for Jack. On top of that, she comes off as very unintelligent, simple minded, and childish in the end. She's Blackbeard's daughter and constantly tries to soften his heart and convince him that he has good in him, an effort that is obviously going nowhere from the beginning (and a fact Jack constantly reminds her of). She even offers to die for him in the end. He takes her up on that offer without a bit of remorse, and she STILL thinks he's worth saving. I'll also mention that in the following scenes with Jack, she comes off as very weak and childish towards the one who saved her. I detest her character. For a so called "tough female lead", she acts weak minded and never really contributes much to the story. I'd say she degenerates and gets worse as a character over the course of the movie, starting out decent and getting horrible. Elizabeth Swann, whatever people may think about her being annoying (and her actress), was at least a strong character who proves herself to be very useful and clever minded when the need arises.
As for other characters, i sort of liked the missionary guy Philip. Nice to see a different sort of character in the film. Though his character was severely underutilized and his development a bit too sudden. His fate was pretty neat. The mermaid Syrena is uninteresting, i didn't feel she contributed much beyond a plot device and love interest (she shows no emotion and has barely any dialog). No development. Scrum i also felt bland and useless, a poor replacement for the supporting pirates in the previous films (Cotton/Marty/Ragetti/Pintel). I didn't care for the zombies, how they looked or acted. As the evil henchmen, they're undewhelming after coming off invincible skeleton pirates from Curse of the Black Pearl or the sea creature mutants from the other two movies.
So as for the story and action, average. The action was much better in previous films. Fight scenes were sub-par and choreography in sword fights was severely lacking. The best i can say about the action was Jack himself. His fights weren't great, but he himself remains the same and he always steals the scene with his antics. His escape scenes are always fun, and he's still as mad as ever with his complex plans. The story isn't bad, but it could and should have been far better. I feel the journey was lacking interesting locations. The highlight of the locations was a scene with the skeletal remains of Ponce de León in a bed, a tribute to a famous scene in the Disneyland version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I also enjoyed the mermaid attack scene and Blackbeard's control over the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Overall, i found this movie kind of bland with some fun highlights. For me, i'd say it's the worst. Not terrible or bad, just average. A great concept with promising characters, the movie feels rushed. It lacks the great fight choreography of the previous ones, the interesting supporting characters, the awesome locations, and the sea battles (or any epic battles). The execution feels lackluster. Heck, i even feel the music isn't as good. I'm throwing my hat in with some of the naysayers. I'm no critic either. Just a random fan. The ride is among my favorites and i like all the previous movies (some better than others). But i'd have to say this one is a step down from previous ones.
Anyways, my two cents. If you liked it, that's just fine by me. I will watch it again when it comes to bluray or DVD to give a second opinion. I'd not recommend anyone stay away from it just because of my opinion to be honest. Though i had issues with it, fans seem to really enjoy it so it may just be that i'm weird that way.
