Pirates of the Caribbean...should have left it at 3

We all the know the sound track and have probably seen at least one of the films. The Pirates of the Caribbean broke onto the movie scene in the year 2003 and was so successful that the franchise churned out two more box office hits. It was said to be a trilogy and the story was finally wrapped in the last installment, At World's End. A few years later plus Disney's optimistic ambition and the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean was given the green light. This time, however, we would not be seeing the original cast sail the seas, search for hidden treasures and emerge somehow victorious from heavily outnumbered sword fights. No, this time it was left all up to Jack. My apologies, that is, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow. Jonny Depp brought this character to life, putting the cool in pirate becoming a fast film favourite. This fourth istallment of the franchise was to focus on the character Jack Sparrow in the appropriately titled film, On Stranger Tides. This tide was indeed strange and not in a good way.

I was sceptical as whether or not this movie would be worth the R45 I would have to pay to watch it. This weekend I decided to put my prejudice aside, paid R20 parking at the V&A waterfront, got my overpriced popcorn and sat through the entire film. It's a lovely feeling, proving yourself right. What doesn't feel as good is paying the R100 it took to do so. The movie was, as I predicted, a train smash. Sure, the acting was satisfactory on the whole and the visuals and effects were impressive but the plot, if you can call it that, was a shambles.

There was a plot, a potentially good plot, that was butchered. Without giving too much away, the movie revolves around the fountain of youth and the numerous crews' pursuit in finding it. The story line felt slow at stages and a bit disjointed. It became predictable towards the middles and the more they fought the more frustrated I became. How many times can one man outsmart and outfight when outnumbered. This was the case with the film's hero, the beloved, Captain Jack Sparrow. Countless times he found himself in trouble facing an army of armed opposition. In each instance he somehow managed to get out of the tricky situation unharmed, leaving a collection of wounded opponents behind him. I know it's the movies, but come on.

In amoungst the wreckage of the plot, there emerged a side serving of romance. This could not possibly have been more insignificant and cringe-worthy. One of Captain Jack's crew 'maties' ended up falling in love with, wait for it, a mermaid. These beautiful creatures were a cross between America's Next Top Model and Twilight. They were sexy sirens of the deep but when aggravated turned part-vampire it seemed. It was obviously love-at-first sight since the romantic duo had exchanged possibly 5 words between each other before they were willing to risk their life for one another.

I realise it's Disney and with an age restriction of PG one can't expect much. But don't go and set the bar so high with the initial trilogy and then produce a sequel presenting as much tact as an Adam Sandler movie. Suffice to say, I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. It's not worth the time, the money or the disappointment.