Escape to the Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

[Scarlet Mongoose]

Wow! Up til this point, I've only ever disagreed with ONE of your reviews.
Guess this makes TWO.
This movie was quite good, and damn good fun too.
It's not on par with PotC 1, but WAY WAY better than the mediocre/crappy PotC 2 & 3.

And the fact that you listed "Memoirs of a Geisha" in your digs against the director, claiming that it isn't worth watching.... makes you look foolish.

I look forward to your next review as always.
Hopefully it will be well thought out, informative, and well.... good.

Oh god!
I just wrote a review of a review! How bored I must be! I'm off to go do something constructive.

 

[walrusaurus]

I'm gonna disagree wholeheartedly with this review. I saw it today, and had a lot of fun watching it.

Yes, Jack doesn't work terribly well as a dynamic protagonist, but that was the whole purpose of the priest and the mermaid. Which, well cliche and predictable, filled essentially the same role as Will and Elizabeth's equally cliche and predictable relationship from the previous movies. Jacks just as crazy, free-spirited and mysoginistic as ever here.

He blows the religion v Paganism thing waaay out of proportion, it was literally 1 line and about 90 seconds of the movie.

Also it seems a little bit odd to me to take issue with Blackbeard having a magic sword in a universe of gold medallions that turn you into zombies, Davy Jones as a squidman in a magical submarine-ship, and literal deicide.

The director was not as good (I was struck by the overuse of the pirates theme), but on the whole it was still a very enjoyable movie.

 

[Jesus Phish]

Saw this movie yesterday. It was enjoyable, it certainly didn't suck.

I didn't want to walk out on it at any point like I have with other movies (Legion). It was everything I expected it to be, a fun pirate style adventure.

All the points Bob makes in his review are explained in the movie, which makes me think maybe he just pulledout an iPad or something and stopped paying attention.

Spoiler

-The treasure hunt for the items, this is explained almost in about the first twenty minutes. They're needed for a ritual. Is it a means to pad out the movie? Yes. Does it give the characters something to do while on their way to the finale? Yes. Does it work? Yes.

-Blackbeard has magic powers over his ship by means of his sword. How hard was that to figure out that he only ever cast his magic while on or near his ship and using the sword. Which is stated in the movie as well when Barbosa feels confident to fight him, "this far from your ship".

-The priest was there at the request of Angelica. Or did you not notice the crucifix around her neck all the time? They might also be deciding to use him in a future movie if they make them.

-The pagan vs christ thing, the whole point of the spanish (explained by the king) was to get to the fountain and destroy it as it is an offense to their catholic god.

-Angelic gets mad all of about once or twice in the whole movie and speaks in spanish all of about once.

 

[philzibit]

It's a fun movie...not good, but defiantly fun.

 

[Mike Fang]

I saw Stranger Tides last weekend and, frankly, I was a bit let down. As an action flick with a pirate theme, it's okay. But to hold up the legacy of the last three movies (World's End was not that bad, even if it's plot got a bit convoluted, if you ask me) it dropped the ball. The movie was very fast-paced, for starters. Blackbeard as he was portrayed was just so lackluster and flat he couldn't hold a candle to villains like Lord Beckett, Davy Jones and Barbosa. Speaking of which, Geoffrey Rush's character was downplayed to the point his talent was almost wasted.

In the end, this movie didn't really feel like a self-contained plot. It felt like an introduction to a new character or two for the next sequel. After seeing this one, I won't be surprised to soon see advertisements for something like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Rough Seas Ahead."

 

[Mike Fang]

I saw Stranger Tides last weekend and, frankly, I was a bit let down. As an action flick with a pirate theme, it's okay. But to hold up the legacy of the last three movies (World's End was not that bad, even if it's plot got a bit convoluted, if you ask me) it dropped the ball. The movie was very fast-paced, for starters. Blackbeard as he was portrayed was just so lackluster and flat he couldn't hold a candle to villains like Lord Beckett, Davy Jones and Barbosa. Speaking of which, Geoffrey Rush's character was downplayed to the point his talent was almost wasted.

In the end, this movie didn't really feel like a self-contained plot. It felt like an introduction to a new character or two for the next sequel. After seeing this one, I won't be surprised to soon see advertisements for something like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Rough Seas Ahead."

 

[Mike Fang]

(gah, accidental double-post)

 

[templars0]

I don?t know bobs usually on the money with his reviews but i went to see it and I like it?s still not as good as the first but nothing ever is. Maybe I have to much rose tint in my glasses but I wouldn?t say it was bad I think the reason he gave it a bad review is because he wanted it to be more than it was, he wanted it to be good, he built it up I bet he look forward to seeing it and then was just disappointed. Now for us who see a couple of movies a month would say sure it wasn?t great but it wasn?t bad but bob see so many movies (allot of them bad I bet because he has to ) it can wear away your love for an average film when you just watch ten average films in a row. So guys don?t be so harsh its only his opine if you like it then you like it if you don?t you don?t see it then judge don?t get bogged down with other peoples opines make your own.

 

[galdon2004]

Most of the points of the movie you didn't get are easily explained if you had a bit of skill following a plot. (spoilers follow)

Barbosa: Acts out of character to stay in good standing with the king and his men in order to reach his goal of getting revenge on Black Beard. When he is alone with Jack he says this much.

Priest: If you paid attention to the scene where the Mermaid tear is finally shed, you'd have realized that Black Beard kept him around specifically to get the tear from the Mermaid because 'tears of joy are easier to get' from a mermaid. He was very likely manipulating the situation to fit this end behind the scenes.

Fetch Quest: 3 items, one ritual. The cups however were together, and basically they were all 'en route' to the fountain anyway. It would only have really been jarring if they had to travel across the seas to 3 different locations altogether to find each piece.

Religion: Forshadowed early on that the Spanish are setting sail for religious reasons. That they have no interest in using the fountain was a plot twist.

Jack's character: If you think he hasn't grown from the first set of movies, you might have forgotten how he was at the start of the first. In this movie he goes out of his way to rescue Gibs with no reason to risk himself right at the start, and only abandons him because they were forcibly separated and the plot caused him to be unable to get back.

Then the end, just as he did for Will, he gave up on his chance for eternal life to spare another's life. In addition, one of the most entertaining parts of his character is that he's not a spotlight hog. Sometimes he is made of pure win, and sometimes he's too inept to do anything useful. This keeps things from getting stale, as in most movies you know the main character will get out of any jam, here it feels more like basically anything could happen at any time.

 

[Whytewulf]

I enjoyed it..

Simple as that.. I enjoyed the 1st a bit more. But these movies work as advetures on their own. I obviously have different tastes than Bob, but I enjoy his 5 minutes usually. He came up for reasons this time, even if I disagreed with them.

 

[Whytewulf]

Most of the points of the movie you didn't get are easily explained if you had a bit of skill following a plot. (spoilers follow)

Barbosa: Acts out of character to stay in good standing with the king and his men in order to reach his goal of getting revenge on Black Beard. When he is alone with Jack he says this much.

Priest: If you paid attention to the scene where the Mermaid tear is finally shed, you'd have realized that Black Beard kept him around specifically to get the tear from the Mermaid because 'tears of joy are easier to get' from a mermaid. He was very likely manipulating the situation to fit this end behind the scenes.

Fetch Quest: 3 items, one ritual. The cups however were together, and basically they were all 'en route' to the fountain anyway. It would only have really been jarring if they had to travel across the seas to 3 different locations altogether to find each piece.

Religion: Forshadowed early on that the Spanish are setting sail for religious reasons. That they have no interest in using the fountain was a plot twist.

Jack's character: If you think he hasn't grown from the first set of movies, you might have forgotten how he was at the start of the first. In this movie he goes out of his way to rescue Gibs with no reason to risk himself right at the start, and only abandons him because they were forcibly separated and the plot caused him to be unable to get back.

Then the end, just as he did for Will, he gave up on his chance for eternal life to spare another's life. In addition, one of the most entertaining parts of his character is that he's not a spotlight hog. Sometimes he is made of pure win, and sometimes he's too inept to do anything useful. This keeps things from getting stale, as in most movies you know the main character will get out of any jam, here it feels more like basically anything could happen at any time.

Agreed.

Did I mention how much I like that fact that the characters (outside of the Zombies and Brabosa) were all dirty and nasty again. That drove me nutz in 2 and 3.

I am hoping for a 5th popcorn movie in this franchise... (oh and the mermaid was kind of cute)

(Why does the Captcha have to be so bloody hard to read.. )

 

[Brutuz]

I just watched this film, while I can see how it is a cash-in film designed to cater to the popularity of the franchise...I have to disagree with MovieBobs comments on it.

Blackbeard had no powers, his sword did...And Brabosa said something to the effect of Blackbeards swords powers only working near the Queen Anne's Revenge. Not only that, but the priest was there for the mermaid simply because she played a big part, if he hadn't befriended her and showed her that all humans aren't bad then (Spoilers here) she wouldn't have given Jack the chalices and saved Angelica's life.

 

[AntiChrist]

Did you see the movie yourself and thought it sucked, or are you just saying "The critic has spoken, he can never be wrong."


No offense, but unless you saw the film yourself and hated it, then your just using your own argument against you, heck with a bit of editing I can make it look like this...

Yeah People, listen to what Bob has to say: How dare you demand so little from films? "Uuuh, look at me - I'm a moviegoer. I like 'awesome' films such as Transformers 2 and The Expendables!" Shame on you People - the pleb Critic has spoken and he can never be wrong! Good luck disagreeing with him when his followers show up with pitchforks and torches at your house!

No offense to you personally, but it just sort of feels like your "going against the grain" and supporting Bob's opinion without seeing the movie yourself, if you did see the movie, then you'd know a LOT of things Bob mentions in the review just plain isn't true or is exaggerated beyond what it actually is like.

I did indeed watch the movie - here's my comment from a few pages back:

What happenend to u Bob? U used to be so cool. I used to watch yo show but u become so elitist. U let personal taste cloud yo judgement - U MAD? Movies don't have 2 be like serious and all, u know. Some times I just wanna watch some action and teh funny jokes. I just want to laugh - not think and stuff. U just angry because Scott Pilgrim didn't do well. I will NEVAH watch yo show again!

[/sarcasm]

A few friends invited me along for 'On Stranger Tides' and I kinda regret that I agreed to go. The film really did feel like it was supposed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Sure, there certainly was a couple of amusing, hillarious scenes,and Johnny Depp's performance definitely steals the spotlight - but a few giggles and wacky acting scattered across two hours seems like a waste of screen time...

In other words, it wasn't my cup of tea. The rest of the theater seemed to really enjoy it - two girls further down my seat-row were pretty much giggling continuously from the first scene and on in that very particular way only girls giggle. My point being, it's a matter of taste and taste tends to differ among individuals. I will not apologize or say I'm sorry for not thinking the movie is suited for anyone and not just a younger audience for I'm not - and neither should Bob. If Bob is at fault of something, it's that he sometimes think he can explain or argue why his taste is preferable to others.

 

[OutforEC]

Why is it that Bob seemingly has preemptive bias towards a lot of the movies that he hates? He needs to keep a more open mind to stuff until he's seen it and is in a position to judge.

Also, the problem with movie critics in general (not just Bob) is that they tend to overanalyse to the point that they are not longer enjoying the movie, but rather purely trying to point out what sucks about it.

The result of this is often inacurate, overly negative reviews (such as this one).

I hate to remind you of your job, Mr Chipman, but you are supposed to be giving us the facts and allowing us to form a judgement, not just pushing your opinions on us.

If you want the facts go to IMDb or Wikipedia. A critic's job is not to give facts, but an informed opinion.

OT: I'll check it out on DvD or Netflix, but the original trilogy was about a movie-and-a-half too long as it was, tacking on a cash-grab sequel just doesn't do it for me.

 

[TheEndlessSleep]

snip

If you want the facts go to IMDb or Wikipedia. A critic's job is not to give facts, but an opinion.

Read what you just wrote... now find me a single review of ANYTHING that contains no facts about it. A review purely based on opinion is worthless.

Here's my review of this movie: 'I loved it'; <----- a factless opinon, and can you also see how its not a review?

In any case, I'm not saying there should be no opinion included, but sometimes Bob's opinion of a movie overshadows the entire review and so he doesn't give a balanced arguement.

So, instead of "This movie sucks and here's why", which is incidentally exactly what this review was.

He should instead say;
"Here is what sucks about the movie",
followed by,
"Here is what doesn't suck about this movie".

That way, he is making a balanced argument, without comprimising the accuracy of his critique, or excluding his opinion.

 

[galdon2004]

I also remembered that I forgot to mention, on the 'fetch quest' detail, Which pirates movie DIDN'T have a fetch quest? (spoilers only follow if you haven't seen the previous three movies)

First movie had the Medallion and Will himself as the essential McGuffins.
Second movie had Davy Jones' Key as the Essential McGuffin to get his heart.
Third movie had the pieces of eight each pirate lord carried. And the chest/heart thing carried over into this movie.

To complain that a fetch quest in this movie is out of place is to say that you don't actually understand the base plot of any of the movies.

Seriously, Bob, most of your vidoes I've seen are right on the money and you seem too intelligent to be so easily confused; were you sick or something the day you watched the movie o.o this review missed the mark really hard

 

[Extragorey]

Only saw the first one. Didn't like it that much either.

Then don't bother with the second or third, because the first is the best one. After that, it gets more convoluted than Lost

I haven't seen Lost, but I got the impression it was pretty convoluted. I didn't think POTC 2 & 3 were THAT convoluted... I followed them fairly easily the first time I watched them.

Anyway, just saw this movie (in 2D) and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting some monstrosity after MovieBob's review, but it was actually pretty enjoyable. And it's always nice when all the funny bits aren't all in the trailer, like SOME movies we know...

It's really the kind of movie which parodies itself, and it works quite well. Like when Jack says "Hang on... All of you are going to fight all of them just because he wants to kill him? Can't we all just lie back, enjoy a rum or two, and let them sort it out themselves?" (Or something along those lines)
Admittedly, there are a few occasions where it's somewhat predictable what someone is about to say, but most of those occasions are just because you've seen it in the trailer.

Spoiler: And it's no more far-fetched than the previous movies - the most questionable moments would be when...

And it's no more far-fetched than the previous movies - the most questionable moments would be when a mermaid gets legs from being in the sun, or Blackbeard's intermittent powers (which turns out to have an explanation; his sword has the powers, not the pirate himself).

So all in all, well worth a watch. Looking forward to #5 and #6!

EDIT:

All the points Bob makes in his review are explained in the movie, which makes me think maybe he just pulledout an iPad or something and stopped paying attention.

I know, right?

 

[Hannabella Doe]

I saw it during the victoria day weekend, and I was dissapointed. It wasn't bad, it's just that it was SO uninteresting. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Pirates of the Caribbean, I even like the third one. But with this movie they're just beating a dead horse. I even found myself dozing off a couple of time. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually looking more forward to X-Men First Class.

 

[Buizel91]

I saw it and i thought it was really good, funny to, just like the other 3.

I remember reading somehwere the Johnny Depp would continue playing him for ages (he said something like he wouldn't quit even if there were 20 movies) because he likes playing the character.

Personally i found it really good, we have left Elizabeth's and Will's story, and we are no on a new one.