Page 20 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • June 1, 2011 Latest ‘Pirates’ installation is weak and repetitive by Dennis Seuling “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is the fourth installment of the “Pirates” franchise, which has become a cash cow for Disney. Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush reprises his role of Barbossa, Keith Richards turns up for a minute or so as Captain Teague, and Kevin McNally’s role of Gibbs has been considerably expanded. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley from the earlier films didn’t make the ship this sailing, but Ian McShane picks up the slack as Blackbeard. This time around, the plot hinges on a quest for the Fountain of Youth. The Spaniards and the British get wind of its location when Ponce De Leon’s wrecked ship is discovered, and they hightail it on a race to claim it as their own. Captain Jack has lost his ship, the Black Pearl, and in his haste to locate it, has been shanghaied by Blackbeard, who is also racing to the alleged location of the fountain. Penelope Cruz plays Angelica, Captain Jack’s old flame who turns out to be a new nemesis. The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a quirky action picture enriched enormously by Depp’s bizarre interpretation of Jack Sparrow. Though Disney feared he would sink the proverbial ship with his mannered, swishy performance and heavy mascara, audiences flocked to see his cinema hijinks and Disney reaped the profits, but a funny thing happened on the way to Sequelville. The second and third films became top-heavy, the novelty of Jack’s appearance had worn off, and spectacle had replaced witty banter and a straightforward plot. Running times became bloated, and much of the spirit of the original was lost at sea. A different director, Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Nine”), Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.’ ����������������������� Chinese Restaurant Family Dining ����������������������� ������������������� Major Credit Cards Accepted ������������ � ���������������� ������������������������ ��������������� ���� Not to be combined with any other offer. Exp. 6/30/11 was at the helm in “On Stranger Tides.” Though the story is shorter and easier to follow, Marshall seems to have wrung every ounce of cleverness and whimsy out of the picture. There are fine performances, particularly by Rush, who makes a deliciously cynical Captain Hook-ish pirate, and McShane, who channels some of the iciness of his Al Swearengen character from “Deadwood.” Cruz manages to go a few rounds with Jack as old hostilities resurface, but otherwise is little more than pleasant window dressing. A romantic subplot involving one of Blackbeard’s crew (Sam Claflin) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) goes nowhere. Marshall is the wrong fit for this film. A fourth film in any franchise must offer something fresh, something that will grab viewers and make us feel we’re seeing something new and different. There are chases, explosions, and more chases, but they lack excitement and seem more formulaic than integral to the plot. There is one notable exception: a creepy sequence that involves mermaids who defy the traditional concept of gentle, half-woman/half-fish creatures who help sailors lost at sea. These mermaids are vicious, vampire-like monsters who swarm a ship and can decimate the crew before they can defend themselves. This is one of only a few com- puter generated image sequences in the film, and it’s terrific. The rest of the film is talky and static. Without Bloom or another leading man type, Depp must shoulder most of the burden for the film’s success, but he has too little to work with. His role is terribly underwritten, with only three or four quips in the entire script. Viewers love Jack as the nonconformist rascal who thumbs his nose at the establishment and dances to his own drummer. In this latest film, he is relegated to providing exposition (a task stars usually avoid like the plague) and looking lost much of the time. “On Stranger Tides” is the first, and hopefully last, series installment in 3D, which is completely unnecessary. Like a 1950s 3D flick, it revels in thrusting pointy objects at the camera, in this case swords, but never does anything more imaginative with the technique, so the results are hohum. Save a few bucks and see the film in traditional 2D. The idea for the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” came from a popular Disney ride of the same name. This latest entry in the series seems to return to its origins as a theme park ride. It’s emotionless, mechanical, and repetitive. Rated PG-13, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is as weak as the first film was clever, imaginative, and funny.