Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

As always, Johnny Depp delivers as Jack Sparrow. Ingenious plans that sometimes get foiled by the British (although in this movie, once by the Spaniards), dashing good looks, and ever-present confusion as to which side he is on. While the majority of this film takes place in Spain and on islands, which is duly-noted in the music with constant guitar riffs added into the favourite PotC songs, it doesn't quite always seem to work as well. In this film however, he plays along-side 'Blow' Co-star, Penelope Cruz, who plays Angelica Malon, a long-ago lover of Jack's. I will not bore you with the details of the film itself. Mainly because I can also guarantee it will leave your jaw hanging open at least thrice, and don't want to spoil it too much for you.
The viewer can expect to miss the addition of Depp's co-stars Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) and Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), sadly. Even though the plot of this film does not call for either of their characters, it is noticeable that the chemistry has changed. Bloom's physical presence seems to be substituted by a missionary named Philip (played by Sam Claflin), though. Knightley's presence has also been substituted by Cruz. It is almost like the first film all over again, as far as chemistry is concerned. But even more so - the plot has almost nothing to do with the previous three films.
As usual though, the costuming, music, atmosphere, lighting, all aspects of the film hold up to the standards of the previous films of this series. One difference however, is the amount of special effects and graphics. When watching the credits, I counted at least SEVEN different companies that participated in the graphics/special effects for this film. One was specifically for fire special effects. Going back, on IMDb, I count SEVENTEEN different companies (7, 12, & 11 companies respectively for the series) that helped along the insanity of this film. When I say insanity, I mean it in a good way. After all, it is Pirates of the Caribbean.
Another trademark of the series is of course the after credits clip. This one includes Angelica Malon. Oddly enough though, this film left some more unanswered questions. That is before the credits even rolled! One question I have now is; Do they really want to continue this series? At the end of this film, I could see the series having three possible directions to go. One having to do with Philip the missionary, one going back to the story-line of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (after all, they have one child we know of already, with Will being obligated to the Flying Dutchman, or to a third option - continuing the story between Jack Sparrow and Angelica Malon.
It is becoming clearer that there will be at least two more films (see PotC 5 and PotC 6 for the least information possible). According to a friend of mine - Depp had already signed the contract for these, but who else has? With the questions left after 'On Stranger Tides' and with everything that has gone on through the series, I suppose what the next two films have to do with shall remain a mystery to us for now.

So, until next time--