Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

This is the perfect summer movie and perhaps the best Pirates of them all. more

Depp and Cruz only occasionally strike the sparks expected from two of the world's most beautiful people. more

On Stranger Tides feels as fresh and bracingly exhilarating as the day Jack Sparrow first swashed his buckle. more

Marshall delivers old-fashioned swashbuckling action-movie thrills more than computer-engineered grotesquerie. more

Captain Jack Sparrow is back in excellent form for his fourth adventure in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is more serious in the hands of a new director, Rob Marshall, and thanks to Penelope Cruz it's also a good deal sexier. more

Serves as a welcome corrective, reviving the fun, feather-light frivolity that any film based on a Disneyland ride ought to exhibit. more

It's a Herculean task to steal the thunder from a Johnny Depp performance, but Richard Griffiths (best known these days as Harry Potter's tubby Muggle uncle, Vernon Dursley) does exactly that. more

The picture is cluttered and convoluted and big, and Marshall - taking over the reins from Gore Verbinski - doesn't seem to grasp how exhausting nonstop action can be. more

Judi Dench is much more of a challenge. Drenched in powder and pomp, the grand old Dame pops up in a London carriage. She's there in a flash and then, as quickly, gone, and her fleeting presence is exactly like the fleeting merit of this fourth galleon in the portly franchise: It prompts stirrings, not quite all the way to feelings. more

Best of all, here there be fun. more

...and after the sound thrashing the critics gave it, I was not expecting to. No spoilers, I promise. Is it worth seeing in the theater? Did you enjoy the first three? Then the answer is a resounding yes. I think the critics were expecting more of a rebirth for the franchise and that's not what this movie is. It's called part 4 for a reason lol. It's a definite continuation. It was a little weird not having Orlando and Keira there but the new actors brought a wonderful new dimension to the film that after a few minutes I didn't miss Orlando or Kiera...not that I wouldn't mind seeing them... more

Let me start this review by saying the 3 Stars is not for the movie itself, or necessarily the package, because I am sure it will be great. I myself, maybe I might be overrating it, but I loved this movie. I thought it was much closer to the fun and surprise of the first movie, and not the bad dialogue and pacing issues of the second and third. Depp was great as usual, the new villain was awesome, and the movie was so much fun! It wasn't flawless, but it was really good. Now as for this package, I would be more than happy to buy it. However, Disney really did a good job of ripping off the... more

In recent years, we've had franchises return for a fourth installment. Indiana Jones. Die Hard. Rambo. Scream. All of varying worth. Many critics say that these long running franchises returning for a 4th film never live up to the hype or to the series they are a part of. Well, 'Pirates 4' comes along to change all that. It is a sequel, coming 4 years after the last one(which is like 10 years in this generation where last week is old), it is a part 4, and it's wonderful. Critics say otherwise, but this is one movie where the audience has spoken, and they are loving it. I could go into the... more