Review: i was underwhelmed by Captain Jack riding on stranger tides...

Though there were a lot of comedic moments surrounding Captain Jack Sparrow, I didn't laugh out loud along with the crowd also watching the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Maybe because it is the fourth movie in the franchise and Sparrow's antics were getting a bit old. Maybe because the two other members of the original trio, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner, were no longer around. Or maybe, because he wasn't in command of, or squabbling with [the amputee] Barbossa for, a ship.

What I enjoyed in the movie instead was the presence of the menacing Edward Teach. He had a reputation to keep since he's also known as the infamous Blackbeard. He's a scary captain for sure. He employed zombies in his crew, owned a sword that controlled the sails and steered Queen Anne's Revenge, and he had a penchant for killing mutineers by frying them on longboats at sea. Despite his intimidating (this is an understatement) nature, he definitely had a soft spot for his daughter. Only she could keep Blackbeard from killing people... they did get killed, mind you, by other people's hands, but under Blackbeard's orders. 

And then there were mermaids. I thought they were all nice, genteel, and happy creatures from under the sea who had red Trinidadian crabs and Atlantic blue tang surgeonfish for best friends. However, the mermaids populating the stranger tides traversed by Blackbeard's motley crew had Ursula-ic personalities. I was nothing short of shocked! Of course, one of them had to be the exception, otherwise, the pirates wouldn't get what they needed when they got to the fountain of youth.

Ah, the fountain of youth. Mermaids, missionaries, and pirates had died to get the elixir of life. The Spaniards were searching for it. The English, led by the ever-treacherous Barbossa, were hot on the Spaniards' tail. Blackbeard was trying to beat both of them to the fountain. All of them wanted to be there first for different reasons. I thought that it would look like what I'd imagine as the garden of Eden: dewy grass, clear blue sky, soft lighting on leaves, flowers, and trees, and a grand marble fountain in the middle... but it didn't. The place was dark and spooky; I'd even expected the ghosts of Christmas past or the Dead Men of Dunharrow to appear and fight the pirates, the Spaniards, and the English off. 

The battle for eternal life did occur among the mortals. Suffice it to say that Jack Sparrow lived to sail with his wild antics another day. 

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