In Defense of On Stranger Tides
Posted in Uncategorized on November 8th, 2011 by adminMany of the summers biggest movies will soon be available to stream from services like Netflix and various channels offered by Direct TV. This is always an exciting time for me, due to the summer season‚ tendency to put out some of the most entertaining ‚ not necessarily best, but certainly entertaining films of the year. And, call me crazy, but along these lines, one of the films that I’m most excited to see again is the 4th installment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides. At this point, most critics and a lot of fans have turned on this movie franchise‚ I argue that there’s no reason to do so.
Throughout the first three Pirates Of The Caribbean films, we saw a constant slew of reckless shenanigans on the part of the lovable protagonist, Captain Jack Sparrow. However, we also began to understand more and more that Sparrow’s ultimate goal seems to be gaining immortality, so that he and his beloved Black Pearl can sail the seas til the end of time. In On Stranger Tides, this ambition comes into sharper focus, as Jack races multiple rival pirates and forces (including, for the first time in this series, the terrifyingly evil Blackbeard) in a search for the mythical Fountain Of Youth.
This fourth film also continued to demonstrate another theme that has become increasingly prevalent, which is that of the world tightening around the ways of the pirates. In the first film, we saw pirates battling pirates, and while the British navy intervened at times, the pirates seemed to have free reign. Yet as the films have progressed, Jack and his fellow buccaneers have felt the world‚ naval and exploratory forces shrinking the oceans and restricting freedoms. I actually felt that the fourth film showed a very nice progression in this idea, as both the British and Spanish played major roles in Jack’s quest.
I recognize that many people have grown tired of this film franchise due to its increasingly circus-like stunts and its seeming lack of a specific direction, or plot at times. I also think, however, that beneath the circus act there is more to Jack and his wanderings than people seem willing to admit. Additionally, it seems that people have forgotten just why these films became popular in the first place, which was undeniably because of Johnny Depp’s ridiculously entertaining portrayal of Jack Sparrow. Again, I may be going against the grain on this one, but as long as the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise keeps giving me two hour installments of Sparrow’s antics, I’ll gladly keep watching.








