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Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

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Two takes on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Two takes on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Wayland High School sophomore Jacob Sussman and junior Annelise Cohen offer their opinions on the latest edition in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Jacob Sussman

Disney really hit on an excellent formula in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The original pirates’ ludicrous but entertaining blockbuster-style approach to 18th century pirate escapades made for a wonderful piece of movie magic.

Both strengthened and hindered by the memory of what once was great, the franchise’s fourth installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, manages to remain an enjoyable, though occasionally wearisome, experience. However, audiences who aren’t content with seeing what is essentially the same story all over again would be advised to stay away.

The attempt of screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott to infuse fresh life into this series bears varying results. The systematic replacement of aging story lines with new characters has a mildly reinvigorating effect on the source material but ultimately fails to cleanse the residual sense of déjà vu that hangs over much of the film. The individual scenarios in the movie are fairly creative, well done, and often humorous, yet they feel interchangeable with segments from earlier Pirates movies, as if Jack Sparrow has just been on one long adventure the entire time.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides just doesn’t move the franchise forward enough to be worthwhile.

Annelise Cohen

Even though Pirates 4 is simply a tack-on to the original Pirates movies, it seems to carry itself with a plot just new enough to get by. The film was entertaining enough that I’m certainly glad it was made, but it does have some obvious flaws.

The entire movie seems to be a parody of the former installments in the series, with Jack Sparrow’s character even more ridiculous to make sure the overall tone of the series was not lost. The new characters, including a compassionate missionary and his mermaid love interest, help to prevent the film from becoming too repetitive and live up the plot enough to satisfy me.

However, it does seem like the character of Blackbeard, the new villain, is not well-developed. In fact, the film should go into more detail with all the new characters, but that probably would have required three more movies, so I’m glad they kept it short. Overall, I am happy I saw the (hopefully) last installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies I have come to love over the past eight years.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will likely satisfy most audiences looking for two hours of easygoing entertainment on a hot summer day, yet, disappointingly, it continues the tediously unimaginative style of previous Pirates sequels.

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Two takes on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides