Jack Sparrow’s ship, the Black Pearl is no more, but a ship does Jack most certainly find and board although he might not be captain of it. But that matters not as much as the fact that he is on a mission: to find the fountain of youth. This fourth installment of the Pirates series is actually a most entertaining film and well worth the 2 hours and ten minutes and the $10 ticket to see it in the theatres ($15 for 3D, BTW). And this is an important point to make right upfront because the two previous ones in the series were beginning to get a tad boring with the tedious underworld and seaworld creepy-crawlies, so much so, that I did go in expecting more of the same.
But, actually, I was quite pleasantly surprised. Because here was an action-packed movie, of course, but one that was laced with a good deal of wit in its dialogue and came with just the right measure of both reality and fantasy. There’s really everything here you could possibly want in a summer blockbuster entertainer: plenty of action in settings as diverse as a courtroom drama in the opening scene, to Redcoats chasing a fleeing Mr. Sparrow in a carriage through the streets of eighteenth century London, to the incredible cinematography of the majestic ships on the high seas and the fantastical mermaids that sing sorrowfully, to the sword-fighting scenes and chases interspersed throughout the length of the movie with the most familiar and outstanding musical score.
All this, and Mr. Sparrow holds steady with his swagger and kohl-laced eyes in that we find ourselves cheering him on as he leaps from chandelier to rooftop to carriage to ship-deck to over a waterfall. The small side-romance of the missionary and the mermaid was sweet enough to add to the overall mix, but I must say that Penelope Cruz, as lovely as she is, didn’t seem to convey as much electricity with Jack Sparrow as her predecessor Keira Knightly did.
All in all, good entertainment for a Saturday evening! Jack, I’m sure you’ll be back!
[This review, btw, is also available on the NYT website at: http://community.nytimes.com/rate-review/movies.nytimes.com/movie/456258/Pira…]
