I just recently went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I have to say I felt the movie was great. I’ve always been a big fan of history, especially history based on tales and mythology. My major in college is history, so it’s completely up my alley. So, for all who are not sure whether they will see the movie or not. I’m just going to tell you what I think of it, and you can decide of course.
First off, I just want to talk about the story and plot. I feel the historical element was better than the last two. The story had more historical elements that actually coincide with real pirate life. Blackbeard was known to be a ruthless pirate in pirate tales. Blackbeard actually ISN’T a tale. He really existed. Another portion of the movie that existed was the use of privateer. A privateer was a “hired pirate” by the government, in this case the King, to perform duties for the government. The reason why government hired certain “pirates” was 1) To “decrease” pirate crime on the seas by putting pirates to work 2) Because pirates had the most knowledge of uncharted areas and the seas. They also were most prepared for naval combat. This movie, out of all of the other movies, had some of the most realistic situations that are historically known facts. Even though the other movies had the East India Trading Co., most of the mentioned events and pirates were solely pirate tales. Pirates did take ships and travel to vacant islands, but to this extent, the fourth movie was more historical to me. I also appreciated the Spanish inclusion in the movie as the Spanish were known to be before the rest of the world in collecting “treasure”. Some people even claim that Spain had record of one of the worst pirates, one person most people know as Cortez. SO to me, already this movie was right on time.
The main movement of the story was a bit slower than the other two, but it didn’t take away from the action and adventure that most people know and love in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Yet to me something in this movie was missing. I thought in the beginning, in the back of my mind, that it had to be because it’s the fourth installment and maybe I’m getting tired of the series? No. I figured out the problem was I knew the story and understood the story so well that it was…predictable. There were really no complete twists for me because I expected Jack Sparrow to come up with something twisted. I expected him to have a sword fight and to use a strange method of combat. I expected him to use his charm and charisma on women. I expected him to go after what all of the men went after only to prove himself honest in the end. I expected many to die. The movie was honestly going exactly how I expected the movie to go. The ending was exactly as I would have imagined it to be. I’m not completely sure that’s a good thing for me.
Yet, in this movie I sensed that Jack was more involved. For me, having Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann out of the picture was a breath of fresh air. I finally was able to realize that Jack Sparrow was the main character, and that these actually are the Tales of Jack Sparrow. The only annoying thing about the inclusion of the other characters is it seemed that all of the new characters were extremely good at what they did. We had Blackbeard, Barbossa, the Spanish dude whose name I don’t remember, and Angelica. All buttholes, and out to instill fear in their crew. The only different captain is Sparrow, and we knew he would be, which I’m glad he was. To me, in the end so many people were good at what they did that it was ridiculous. First Blackbeard is all tough, then Barbossa is all tough, and then the Spanish Conquistador is all tough. And it makes the last one look weaker and weaker until we lose any fear of the “evil” pirate at all. And that’s not cool not to fear the villain of the story. He should be the biggest and baddest of all. But maybe the point is there was more than one villain in this tale…Really it seemed the Spanish was the main villain.
Well, pointing out the scenes, settings, and creatures next. The creatures were just as interesting as ever. Not really as many as the last two movies, but just enough to keep me entertained. To me, this movie brought it back to it’s roots. The first story really didn’t have any mythological creatures at all. They did have zombies, and a “ghost” ship. The scenes and settings were just as interesting as the other scenes and settings before.
Overall, this movie was a pretty good one for a fourth movie. I give it an 8.5/10
Generation Next 
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