So we meet Jack Sparrow again. Or, like he says, there should be a Captain in there somewhere. And it is this witticism and cracking one liners that save this film from being an ordinary mediocre fare.
I still remember my first meeting with Jack Sparrow. I didn't know then of this phenomenon called the Pirates of the Caribbean. Switching channels on television, I came across the local cable channel showing this film, probably a pirated copy. With nothing better to watch, I watched for a few seconds and what I saw had me captivated. How one can breathe life into a character to the point that you can't separate actor and character is a treat. Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate with an aversion toward violence, perhaps the only such pirate to have ever sailed, with his preference of words over and swords and the tendency to chose the path of least resistence, was a sheer genius that would have been impossible without Johnny Depp. If one remembers the first film for the brilliant wordplays and swordplays he engineered, the character somehow paled ever so slightly in the subsequent installments due to the complicated plots and multiple characters. But with the fourth installment he returns with his trademark swagger and sharp wit. His escape from the English castle brings back memories of the first film of his daredevil escape from prison and his sword fight with an imposter posing as him (later revealed to be Angelica, the female pirate, played by Penelope Cruz) reminds me of his first encounter with Orlando Bloom in an epic sword fight in the blacksmith's workplace.
The story, thankfully, has been kept extremely simple. He is one of the few to know the path to the Fountain of Youth and has been imprisoned by the famous Pirate Black Beard and his crew to help them reach there. But, of course, he is not alone in the query as both the English and the Spanish are on their way too. Of course, knowing the path is only half the battle as using the fountain is a task in itself involving special chalices and a mermaid's tear. And may I mention here that mermaids are not the beautiful, divine creatures we are used to thinking of them as. Oh they are beautiful for sure. But they are violent creatures with sharp fangs and a fondness for human blood. In the middle throw in Hector Barbossa, the pirate with a love-hate relationship with Jack, but this time he comes with a private motive of his own and sinister plans pf revenge. There is also the budding love story between a Missionary and a Mermaid that is sweet and simple but thankfully hasn't been stretched too much. But the most inspirational addition to the cast has been Penelope Cruz as Angelica, a female pirate, who is the also the daughter of Black Beard and was on her way to become a nun before Jack Sparrow intervened. She brings in the sparks and adds a new and extremely interesting dimension to the already multifaceted character of Jack Sparrow.
So does the film stand up to the expectations? Well, some great dialogues and an amazing chase sequence notwithstanding, the first half of the film does tend to drag a bit. I found myself yawning quite a bit in the long conversations and the fleshing of new characters and stories without any of the usual action and adventure (but then the sleep could also have been due to my lack of sleep last night). But the second half is a lot more action packed and does raise the quality of the movie.
The highlights of the movie are of course the characters and the actors. Penelope Cruz is crackling with her chemistry with Jack and gets the body language of a pirate spot on. The way she uses her charm with Jack is astounding, specially in the last scene as Jack is trying to maroon her. In fact, she is the best new thing about the film. Geoffrey Rush is his usual sardonic self. Ian McShane as Black Beard is menacing only some of the time. Sam Claflin and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as the young couple is sweet and passable but their characters are not etched enough or their roles long enough for them to hold a candle to Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Maybe subsequent editions will see a longer plot around them. Kevin McNally returns competently as Gibbs, Jack's first mate and close ally. Keith Richards in his single scene shows the world why the character of Jack Sparrow is a dedication to him. But it is, as usual, a Johnny Depp show. And you breathe a sigh of relief to have him back as the centre of attraction. And this time, the "stirrings", as he describes it, for Angelica makes him an even bigger delight. However, you do miss some of the regulars like Cotton and his Parrot, Jack the Monkey, Marty and Pintel and Ragetti.
The movie is also a treat with its one-liners. Extremely witty and funny, they make this movie a fun fest. My personal pick, along with "the should be a Captain somewhere", is when Jack asks his father, played by Keith Richards, if he knows where the Fountain of Youth is and Richards replies "does this face looks like it knows where the Fountain of Youth is?". Of course there are multiple other scene stealers like the one where Barbossa unscrews his wooden peg leg only to take a swig of rum from it (the peg leg is actually a secret bottle) or Angelica trying to convince Jack to take her away from the island where he is marooning her.
Finally, a word for the special effects. the underwater scenes with the mermaids and their long and beautiful tails were breathtaking. But, the level of special effect, as a whole, seemed less impressive than what we are used to in the previous. Afterall, who can forget the sword fight between Jack and Barbossa where both in turn turns into skeletons as moonlight falls on them or the cursed pirate crew of the Black Pearl in the first film or the amazing appearances of Davy Jones and his crew from the Flying Dutchman and Kraken the sea monster. This film, as it lags behind in the action department, seemed also to need lesser help from special effects. However, the 3D work on the film is really good and doesn't seem like all those 2D films converted to 3D for better ticket sales.
All in all, it is an improvement on the previous installments (not the first film since in my opinion it remains the best of the lot) in terms of simplifying the story and showing more of Jack with screen time as well as dimensions but it does lag behind on the action front and you hope for more to happen in the films that are sure to come. Don't set your expectations too high and you can still go and enjoy the film immensely. But if you are a Captain Jack Sparrow fan(atic), then this film is worth your money. Savvy?
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