Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

I am a fan of the first three Pirates movies.  Unconventionally I could hazard that At World's End is possibly my favourite.  The first of the films, The Curse of the Black Pearl, was certainly more orientated around Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and the subsequent two sequels seemed, in spirit, to follow this trend.  Nevertheless, at the end of At World's End, their story was neatly wrapped up which was a good thing.  Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow seemed to me to be a supporting character.  It was clear that in The Curse of the Black Pearl Johnny Depp stole the show and the movement of the plot revolves very much around Jack's actions, motivation and machinations.  In the sequels Jack has a more prominent role, no doubt due to Johnny Depp's popular performance but I can't shake the opinion that these films were not so much about him (especially after seeing the latest addition to the franchise).

On Stranger Tides picks up from the little teaser left at the end of At World's End with Captain Jack Sparrow searching for the Fountain of Youth.  This film is without doubt about Captain Jack Sparrow.  Even with a couple of familiar faces from the first three films, this film is overwhelming his tale.  There is a side story with religious men and mermaids that does feel a little tagged on, like some very poor replica of the story of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann and there in lies the problem.  This film will suffer from comparison.  The film has a feel of trying to live up to it's predecessors by solidifying a Pirates of the Caribbean formula and formulaic narrative is the bane of franchise films.  It's why I don't watch James Bond - you see one, you've seen them all.  I also felt the loss of Bloom's and Knightley's characters and the vast supporting cast in this film.

Despite these reservations it was still very much a fun film to watch.  It is still of the same quality as the previous films.  Before watching this I did have low expectations because I had heard it wasn't good in and of itself, but after seeing it I think that's just nonsense.  This film feels like a lead in to a new saga, much like The Black Pearl was.  Not many franchises can maintain a level of quality throughout like Pirates has.  If you liked the three previous films then I would recommend this one as well.