Yo ho and a bottle of rum! Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and I have to say that contrary to a large number of opinions, I found it to be jolly good fun. This fourth outing gets rid of the slightly annoying Keira/Orlando love story and replaces it with a double serving of Jack Sparrow, Barbossa and new pirates Anjelica (Penelope Cruz) and Blackbeard (Ian McShane who played the marvellously named Al Swearengen from TV's Deadwood). The plot is relatively simple - Jack, Barbossa, Anjelica and Blackbeard (and new villains the Spanish - boo! hiss!) are all chasing the fabled "Fountain of Youth" for various reasons - but there are a few twists and turns along the way as you would expect from a Pirates movie.
Johnny Depp is once again priceless as the mad yet lovable Cap'n Jack and Geoffrey Rush serves up some great ham as Barbossa. The new characters don't get much to work with though, particularly "the Spanish" who don't even really get one standout character. Pene Cruz does well though as the sultry and possibly double crossing Anjelica. The action scenes are up to the standard of the previous films but one disappointing aspect was that most of the swordfights and action scenes are at night or very dimly lit so it is hard to make out exactly what's happening sometimes. The 3D is not overkill and mostly fun with swords pointing at you etc. Good new additions are the killer mermaids and the new ship introduced, Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, with a few cool tricks up its sleeve and a very ominous theme tune.
Don't set your expectations too high, just go with it and you'll find a film that's both fun and funny. Take plenty of supplies - this is a long one. And as per the last 3 movies, make sure you stay beyond the (very long) end credits for a final scene.
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