Movie Review: POTC4 - On Stranger Tides

[hrj]

Very briefly: Having an actual independent story behind movie #4 made all the difference between a tired franchise being squeezed for yet another drop or two of blood and an entertaining summer flick that I might even buy the DVD of. Plus, I was pleased that Tim Powers' novel was credited with "inspired by" rather than "based on". Quite likely I was able to enjoy the movie better for having not yet read OST the novel -- the strongly idiosyncratic recurring characters would probably have caused some tooth-grinding if I were running them against the original in my head. But I just might add it to the to-read shelf now, if only to do a compare-and-contrast.

Judgment: if (like me) you swore after POTC3 that you'd never waste your time and money on the franchise ever again, be willing to consider a mental erase-and-reboot back to POTC2 and give this one a chance.

Comments

[vnend.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I have wanted to hear a fan's thoughts on this one.

As for having read Tim Power's book first, I had plenty of warning that it wasn't the same story. The first appearance of the mermaids in the trailers was a good clue that it was a very different story. I just hope Tim gets some good money out of it.

[gmdreia.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoyed the film! I actually liked it better than 1 and 2. It stood on its own, and I liked the narrower focus upon Captain Jack Sparrow rather than the other films' attempts to manage this ensemble cast. I also had charming company with me when I saw the film.