Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

More of the same ... but it is not funny any more ...

This is just awesome

View it as a spin off and it's a rollicking treasure seeking adventure. Ok lets have it out front right away, this particular writer loved the first film (Curse of the Black Pearl), was disappointed with the second (Dead Man's Chest) and positively found the third (At World's End) to be an incomprehensible bore. Part 4: On Stranger Tides is a shift in another direction, where a group of piratical characters, some we know well, others new to the fold, embark on missions to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. So think "Indiana Jones", "National Treasures" like adventures (hell even "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World") and you get the drift here. Expectation of this franchise getting back to the heady days of that first film will be crushed pretty early on. There's a little too much going on here for it to be safe children's fare, but the adults, especially those who remember the serial silliness of adventure films of yore, will have a good time. The action set-pieces are superb, enter high speed carriage chase through London, some spiffing sword play deep in the brewery, Blackbeard (Ian McShane) using his black magic whiles to incarcerate mutineers in a whirl of maniacal ropes, and a