Bated breath

Finally the moment arrived. I have been waiting for this.




Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides


Yes, I was counting the days, and not just because of the delightfully camp Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp is always a drawcard, his characters are quirky and committed. So did Tides satisfy? Yes and no. I saw it in 3D and found that a little disconcerting, way too many swordfights.

Some of the old guard have gone - Keira, Orlando, they guy from The Office and those two dopey soldiers. The Old Rocker was in it briefly but memorably ("does this face look like I found the Fountain of Youth?" ... "depends on the light"). The new main character Blackbeard was played very well by the rather nice Ian McShane, whom we all remember as Jonathan Gash's divvy Lovejoy. Mystery fans, try the Lovejoy books - Firefly Gadroon, Gold from Gemini, the Judas Pair, there is a whole series. Slightly metaphysical, and lots of antiques.

But I digress. Tides is about the search for the Fountain of Youth and the quest to recover the Black Pearl - that issue was a setup for the next movie. Penelope Cruz is a nice pirate, subscribing to the heavy black eyeliner almost as much as Sparrow and Blackbeard. Some great locations, nice scenery, vampire mermaids, Gemma Ward (vacant looking model) among them. A somewhat gratuitous missionary - his position was ambiguous (sorry, couldn't resist that). Ghastly effect after drinking the waters of the Fountain - just say no.

Not a bad story, a nice looking movie, good characters, I didn't miss the lightweight Orlando at all. 3D was neither here nor there, it probably didn't enhance the experience, except for a moment at the end, when the two characters appear to step into the screen and walk along a beach. That moment could have been a live show with Depp actually on a stage in front of me. Be sure to stay until after the credits. Be warned, it is quite a long movie.

Pirates 3 is still my favourite.




Have not seen the new batch of kittens yet. And by the way, looks like Avatar is back. No, sorry, I mean The Smurfs movie, I get those two mixed up. Blue you know.