Jack Sparrow is back for the entertaining Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

After the mainly forgettable Pirates: At World's End, things are back on track with the much better On Stranger Tides, the 4th Pirates adventure. The story this time focuses on the search for the fabled Fountain of Youth with England and Spain racing to get there first. Jack Sparrow..excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow is in England to save his friend and shipmate Gibbs from a hanging and after a thrilling chase through the streets of England, he runs into and old flame named Angelica (played by Penelope Cruz, who is a welcome addition to the series). Angelica is recruiting men for her ship to find the Fountain of Youth. She kidnaps Jack, since Jack knows the location of the fabled place. Also in pursuit is Jack's onetime friend and frequent pain in his ass, Barbossa (once again played by Geoffrey Rush). Barbossa is working for the king of England but what he really wants is to kill Blackbeard (played by Ian McShane) who maimed Barbossa and stole the ship, The Black Pearl from him. Blackbeard also happens to be Angelica's father. Along the way there is a wicked encounter with beautiful but deadly mermaids in one the film's best sequences. Scores of mermaids attack Blackbeard's men but Jack saves the day. They capture one of the mermaids because they need her tears for the fountain of youth to work. Everything comes to a thrilling climax that leaves the ending open for yet another sequel. Depp is good once again as Jack. No one else can play this part like he can. Rush is good also as his scenes with Jack are some of the best in this film. Cruz has great chemistry with Depp and McShane is pretty good as Blackbeard. All in all I enjoyed this Pirates movie. Like I said it's a big improvement over the last one.
B