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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Starring:  Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Ian McShane
Directed by:  Rob Marshall
Screenplay by:  Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio

     Our pirate friends are back for the fourth time.  This time, they bring along new people for the journey, while some of the characters from the previous films are nowhere to be seen.
     Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in London rescuing his good old friend and former first mate, Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally) from the crime of impersonating Jack Sparrow, saying that he's looking for a ship and a crew (because apparently the Black Pearl has been sunk) to sail to ye olde Fountain of Youth.  While Jack's purpose in London isn't to find a crew and a ship, it eventually becomes his task to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish conquistadores find it first.  From there, it becomes a race between Captain Jack, Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush), Blackbeard (Ian McShane), and the Spaniards, with the Fountain of Youth as the prize.  Slowly, someone from Jack's past, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), Blackbeard's daughter, will unite Jack and Blackbeard's forces to find the Fountain together.  Legend has it that Blackbeard is supposed to be killed by the one-legged man, Barbosa, (whose leg gets cut off due to an unbeknownst circumstance) before reaching the Fountain, yet Barbosa is also after the Fountain.  It takes three items to get to the Fountain, a tear from a mermaid, and two cups from the remains of Ponce De Leon's ship.  Will everyone work together to get to the Fountain, or will rivalries tear them all apart?
     For a movie that is the fourth in the series and directed by someone else and with a lot of cast changes, On Stranger Tides isn't the best of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, but is certainly worth seeing.  The other three were directed by Gore Verbinski and were certainly better than this one, but this one isn't bad at all.  For one, the acting is excellent, with exceptionally strong performances from Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp.
     An interesting thing about the movie is Blackbeard's ship; the awesomely named Queen Anne's Revenge, that seems to have superpowers controlled by Blackbeard.  It seems quite ridiculous when watching the movie, but you just have to go with it and see what happens.
     When I first heard about On Stranger Tides, I wasn't sure how so many changes to the cast and the new director, Rob Marshall, were going to work out for the film.  There are way too many changes to this film, even though it is the same premise of the three other films.  I like the change, but there is just too much of it.
     Another problem is that the film is so drawn out.  It could have easily been a half an hour shorter than it already is.  While most of the film keeps you interested, it's the parts that make the movie seem better or the same without them that ruin the fun of the film for you.
     Overall, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is worth seeing if you're a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, like me.  While this isn't the best one, I still like it, just not as much as the others.
This movie sets sail with a B-.

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