I’ve been wondering about this one for a while now. After the entertaining but wholly underwhelming sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (namely Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End), I’ve been cautiously optimistic about the upcoming fourth instalment in the franchise. Why do I think it will be better than the second and third chapters? Well, to begin with: neither Kiera Knightly nor Orlando Bloom are returning. Their characters felt completely tacked-on in parts two and three, since their arc ended very neatly at the conclusion of Curse of the Black Pearl. Now that those two characters, neither of whom had much in the way of personality, are gone, it seems like the franchise can take the route it was always meant to in my mind; Captain Jack can sail off and have adventures on his own and we won’t have to get bogged down by all the tepid romance. Still, there’s always been the distinct possibility that On Stranger Tides will suck. But now we have a trailer, and we can judge this movie with a bit more context and perspective and…well hell, it looks pretty good. Seeing this reminded me of why we loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s got some historical factoids mixed in with some supernatural baddies, there’s a healthy helping of daring-do, plenty of swashbuckling, and all the important cast members are back in good form (even Keith Richards!). Congratulations, Disney, you’ve got my ten bucks. And I’m not just saying that because you chucked some zombies in there. Honestly.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out on May 20, 2011. Why is the rum always gone?