Movies to see this summer: May 20th, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'

What it’s about:
Jack Sparrow is- oh damn, sorry. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is on a mission to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. However, he’s not the only one who wants to find it. Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), the fearsome Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter Angelica (Penelope Cruz) are also keen to claim it.


Why you might not be excited about it:
Because fans did not like the third one. I’m not saying everyone hated it. I’m saying that it wasn’t as well received as Dead Man’s Chest, and certainly not as well as Curse of the Black Pearl, which is the best of the franchise. I could go on all day about the strengths and weaknesses of the franchise, but I have a word limit on this thing.

Filmgoers may also note that On Stranger Tides is not directed by Gore Verbinski, who helmed the other Pirates movies, and who is largely responsible (second to Depp himself) for the franchise’s success. He’s a really great director. His absence may be throwing people off the scent of this continuing franchise, especially if they were put off by At World’s End.

Also, Disney had announced that not only were they making this film, but also a fifth and sixth film, centered on the character of Jack Sparrow. This is a benign fact, but it can also be perceived as a money grab by Disney, who could be seen as aiming merely to cash in on their Pirates money tree instead of producing good content. This is how some may have felt about At World’s End. Some who did not like the movie felt that the studio had been lazy with it, putting story and character in the backseat in favor of profitability. The movie was greenlit without a finished script. I absolutely love Disney, but I absolutely hate when movies are allowed to film without first nailing down their script. As I said, some may see this franchising as a cash grab, and they’re right, to some degree. Filmmaking is a business, and if a studio knows it can make money off of a franchise, it will. Just because that studio happens to be Disney does not at all mean that it’s purely for money.

Finally, certain people may be averse to this movie because the franchise no longer includes the characters of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) or Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley). Not to generalize the female audience, but part of their enjoyment of these films came from the romance between Will and Elizabeth, who are actually the main characters of the first three movies.

Why you should be excited:
Dissect everything you just read and find the positives. Chief among them is the fact that Will and Elizabeth are gone and the focus is officially on the only character anybody actually ever cared about: Jack Sparrow. Will and Elizabeth may have technically been the main characters, but they were fairly boring characters. Jack Sparrow is now an iconic character because of the talents of Johnny Depp and he is by far the life of the franchise. Will and Elizabeth’s stories were finished anyways. Plus, the actors' contracts were up and both Bloom and Knightley declined to be in the next three films. I say it’s for the better.

Also, Geoffrey Rush is still in the movies. He was such a great villain in Curse of the Black Pearl and is never ever boring to watch. It was always fun to watch him and Sparrow interact. Along with Rush, the rest of the cast is impressive. Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz are both extremely talented actors and it will be exciting to see the depth that they will bring to their characters, the same way Rush and Depp brought their own to life.

Lastly, On Stranger Tides will be a standalone movie. It won’t be the first part of two movies, so there will be no dissatisfaction of lack of resolution.

Check out the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR_9A-cUEJc&feature=related