Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Director: Rob Marshall
Year Released: 2011
Rating: 1.0
Number four in the seemingly interminable Pirates franchise leans so heavily on Johnny Depp's boozy-woozy Captain that I'm surprised Mr. Depp doesn't develop scoliosis. Here he's paired, once more, with Geoffrey Rush as the two of them go on a search for the Fountain of Youth, with (a very good) Ian McShane and (a super hammy) Penélope Cruz following along (hearing Cruz say "Jack" repeatedly is some kind of ear torture). Though the series was rapidly fading after the tolerable first picture, it lacks any kind of 'punch,' with an alternating combination of mechanical action scenes and dry plot exposition - director Marshall, taking over for Gore Verbinski, doesn't seem to have it in him to make a popcorn movie. Depp's magnetism does go a long way, however, and some of his one-liners are memorable.
