I was never a hard-boiled fan of this franchise, sure, I’ve seen the first three parts all right and had had that descending quality feeling about them so when a year or two ago they started fishing for the fourth and fifth part, I just thought oh, well. I guess I’d go and see ‘em. 2D or 3D makes no difference.
It was 3D – although, hardly so. Let’s get this straight: I dislike 3D movies with a vengeance but if I end up seeing one, I expect things to pop out of screen, to make me dive for it, to be able to explain why that dented mark of 3D glasses on your nose after two and a half hours of watching is a completely legit necessity.
None of that here – hell, is there ever?
I need to give my huge nod to whomever out there who decided not to put Keira and Orlando in this one. I don’t care if they themselves decided not to be a part of it but it sure was a pleasure not being forced to cringe every time they’re on screen. Unfortunately, the script did find a way to introduce us to a new set of Keira/Orlando wannabes who, as luck would have it, meet with a dubious fate in the end so fingers crossed that Mermaid/Priest story is dead and buried for good (although probably not).
I genuinely liked Jack Sparrow and hoped to see more of him in the fourth part but his lines were not that great and there was little to laugh about – I’d say the script is to blame since there is barely any to start with and too many holes in it make for a very bland experience. Blackbeard is not as horrifying as he should be and Captain Barbosa hasn’t got a lot of screen time and there’s only one person to blame: Penelope Cruz. Her role is bigger than it should be and if she’s currently rolling on a Javier Bardem rollercoaster of success, god help us all (it’s just a saying, let it be noted that I’m an atheist).
In a nutshell, Pirates 4 is not as bad as expected even though certain parts of it are boring in their redundancy and predictability. Still, it easily gets 7 out of 10 and I will probably watch the fifth part – might as well.
