Predictable stuff

Director Bob Marshall gets the ambience of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides right but after a promising start, one has to plough through eons of sameness

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is only for those who can dare take another dose of Captain Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) heroics or acrobatics as he tries hard and very nearly succeeds in imbibing freshness in this fourth venture.

In search of the fabled source of eternal youth, the likeable scoundrel is chased through the streets of early 18th century London by King George’s (played fetchingly by Richard Griffiths) minions.

Director Bob Marshall gets the ambience right but after a promising start, has to plough through eons of sameness, all of 135 minutes. Give us qualitative fare, not merely predictable quantitative stuff!

If the director is new, so are the two co-stars with Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom making way for Penelope Cruz and Geofrey Rush (as good as he was in The King’s Speech). Cruz, of course, is her usual effusive self and cannot be blamed for the lack of zing in Stranger Tides. Even marketing has its limits these days.

To get to the story, Sparrow joins forces with his former paramour and they embark on "mission near-impossible" and this time, we have a new arch-villain (Ian McShane) for variety. But then, sadism is no longer fashionable these days. Guess, it is hard to be inventive as a routine. Why not take a break? There are other more exciting subjects to choose from. The film is in 3-D which
is scarcely striking. Also there are seductive-scary mermaids to encounter for novelty.

But the Caribbean show goes on with a few new gags and Dame Judi Dench too has a cameo. Thanks God for a few good cameos or else what would the top billing stars have for sustenance. No prizes, of course, for guessing the climax and though Depp, Cruz and Rush just cannot be faulted. It is the timing that is to blame. May be the franchise must be packed in moth balls and given time to incubate but then Depp fans will find him well past his acrobatic prime!

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