When Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is found in London, and asked to go after the legendary fountain of youth, his first instinct is to run. But soon enough he has no choice when he is captured by the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter/first mate Angelica (Penelope Cruz) as they themselves seek the fountain. Now Jack shall have to face all manner of evil before he can reach the fountain: Mermaids, Spanish soldiers and even his old arch nemesis Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush).
There is a reason why films should only be repeated up to a certain point: it happened with Shrek 3, with Spiderman 3, with Terminator 4, they all end up being the same story but without anything new and interesting. This is what happened with with Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger Tides. All of the things that made the last Pirates of the Caribbean films good is not present here, or else used so much that it becomes boring. 1st the Story it is packed with lots of old piratey folklore as were the last films, but here it is packed with too much stuff and the result leaves the story feeling rushed and unexplained in many cases. Even then, there are lots of moments that have very little to do with the story and are slow going. The humour is dry: the same puns seen in the last films and literally feels like you are hearing the same joke for the fourth time. All the swashbuckling action that was great in the last films is replaced by Jack Sparrows 'inventive escapes', which would give Sherlock Holmes: a game of Shadows a run for its money. Depp, McShane and Rush's performances are decent, but the rest of the all star cast are not very good at all: in fact there are no other old faces reprising their roles, with the exception of Mr Gibbs (Kevin McNally).
The only thing strange about Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is why anyone would bother with it in the 1st place.
