This would be part 4 in the Disney Pirate saga that is based on its popular theme park attraction. Actually, this episode starts a new series of adventures since part 3 ended the last trilogy. Johnny Depp is back as Capt. Jack Sparrow. Geoffrey Rush returns as Barbossa and Kevin McNally is on hand as the Captain”s right hand man Gibbs. Other characters are new to the franchise.
This time out the boys and girl, the girl being Academy Award Winner Penelope Cruz as the daughter of Blackbeard the Pirate, provide the pirate activities. Penelope was pregnant during the filming and apparently caused some costuming issues as the shooting schedule progressed into September, 2010.
No big pirate ship battles, as this time the pirates are mainly land bound while seeking the fabled Fountain of Youth. They encounter fang-laden Mermaids and Blackbeard himself in the personage of vet actor Ian McShane. More and more supernatural occurrences take the place of old fashioned storytelling and swashbuckling, as the writing crew takes a different path. Different path or not, the film is going to make a lot of money and no doubt the two sequels to this film are in the works. The first three Disney Pirates films have made a hundred times more than all the money taken in by all the pirates in history. It’s in the billions and there is currently no end in sight.
While big and noisy, the storyline is full of plot holes as big as the Kraken. This film goes on way too long at 2 hours and 17 minutes and, of course, the storyline has a follow up scene at the very end of the long end credit sequences to stir the interest for the sequels to come. For the most part these films are made in desirable locales so there is no shortage of actors ready to sign up for duty. That, and the big paychecks from the big box office results and lucrative merchandise tie-ins.
There is a rumor that when this storyline wraps up with part 6 that the next series will begin shooting immediately. I am looking forward to Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow: The Pirates Meet The Magic in 2014.
Rated 2.5 out of 4.0 yohoyoapirateslifeforme’s.