In the Theatre with Kevin Murphy - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Walt Disney Pictures

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the day you will always remember as the day Kevin Murphy reviewed the reboot/fourquel/spin-off Pirates of the Caribbean; On Stranger Tides. Jack Sparrow is back, and this time theirs a lot more Jack than their was before. Will and Liz are not around anymore and now Jacks got a whole new crew as he sets of on his weirdest, drunkest and most slapstick voyage yet. But that doesn't mean at all that I liked it. 

Jack's back and badder than ever. 

After stealing the map that leads to the fountain of youth Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), is hired by King George II (Richard Griffiths) to act as a guide for his “old friend” Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to find the fountain before the rivalling Spanish Empire find it. Along the way Jack runs into and teams up with on of his ex-lovers Angelica, who is the daughter of the most ruthless pirate in history Blackbeard. Jack gets ready for his most action packed adventure yet, as he sets sail for waters unknown.

In 2007, It was announced that the series had come to and end, but later on we learned that Jack was back. So Jack is back, but not many others are back, The only two characters that really remain from the previous trilogy are Mr. Gibbs and Barbossa who are still played wonderfully by Kevin McNally and Geoffrey Rush. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly are not around anymore and frankly I'm glad because we've seen all we've need from those two love birds. Yet I'm pretty sad that we are left without the wonderful and lovable comic relief that is Pintel and Ragetti.

On the other hand we have some new faces and new challenges for our anti-hero, Jack. The new female lead is played by Penelope Cruz, and she is a much more feisty and more fiery leading female with a real sense of fun, action and adventure that was just all talk for the lovely but sometimes boring Ms. Swan. We also have a new and typical pure-hearted hero Philip Swift (sounds like a Prince Charming name to me) who is a man of god and enslaved to Blackbeard. He's a tad boring and what I really didn't like about him was that it seemed like he was too much of a replacement for Will Turner. They could have made him a bit more original if the character didn't have as a large a sense of pride as Will did.

We also have a new villain and this one is apparently even more blood thirsty, power hungry and ruthless than old Davy Jones was. The new bad guy is one that many people have read about centuries before the Pirates of the Caribbean was built at Disneyland; Blackbeard the pirate. What makes this guy so evil is that he is in fact mortal. He has not achieved eternal life like other villains in the series but instead is on a hunt for it and will go to incredible lengths to avoid the horrors of death. Ian McShane plays his part wonderfully as a man who literally has no compassion for any living thing but himself and his trophy ship. I haven't seen a Disney villain this obsessed or hell bent as the Horned King from the Black Cauldron (1985). Ian McShane I salute you as a superb antagonist.

Apart from acting, the choreography for the movie was really good. Once again Johnny Depp proves to great with a sword and getting from one sticky situation to another without it looking old or tasteless. He always presents himself with a new challenge. New members of the cast also catch on pretty well to the demands of the series with the stunts and safety of doing a movie like this. Penelope Cruz for one proved to be a highly skilled with all her weapons, especially against old Jack.

So I would say that this Pirates is OK, it can be on par with the first one, and its plot isn't as confusing as Dead Man's Chest or At Worlds End. Blackbeard's violent nature means I wont recommend this movie for young children but for most teens age 14 and over id say its acceptable and non-pirates fans may be bored by it. Some of the old characters I liked are not round anymore and have been replaced with rather lacklustre or suck – up actors, but some of the new characters i thought stole the show. But Its still did like it. Its good but its no perfect. So this is the day you will always remember as the day Kevin Murphy gave an OK review to Pirates of the Caribbean; On Stranger Tides.

My Rating: 2.5/4 Shamrocks.