BOTTOM LINE: While nowhere near as bad as the previous two films in the Pirates franchise, “On Stranger Tides” is at best an average affair that only half-heartedly tries to recapture the magic of the original film.

THE GOOD: One of the best things about this fourth entry in the Pirates franchise is that it jettisons the convoluted, clumsy, and directionless narratives of the second and third films. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) seems more like himself again as he is pulled in to a quest to find the fountain of youth, with evil pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and the feisty Angelica (Penelope Cruz) thrown in to the mix. With Sparrow now front and centre in this film with both Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley not returning for this outing, it allows for his iconic character to take centre stage, and quite rightly, the filmmakers have realised that this is a good thing as in the previous films he seemed to be a shadow of his former self. There are many intriguing sequences in the film, with the mermaids’ scenes being quite fascinating and scary all at the same time, or the well-executed first escape scene where Sparrow evades the King’s officers in London. Aside from Johnny Depp having his usual fun as Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush is likewise relishing his character of Barbossa, and in many ways, is a good protagonist in this film and a change of pace for the character. Penelope Cruz is effective as Angelica who seems to be more than a match for Sparrow’s crafty behaviour. “On Stranger Tides” may have been better served as the second film in the franchise as it clearly a step above the poorly executed previous sequels.

THE BAD: This film does not make much of an effort to recapture the magic of the first film. It is dark, and almost bland in its nature. Blackbeard is not particularly scary or formidable, aside from when he waves his hands and fireballs blow out of the front of his ship. A tragic romance between a mermaid and a missionary is dramatically unrealised, and in the end feels tacked on to account for the absence of Orlando and Keira. The film does not look particularly good in 3D at all, with a number of images being way too dark. At the end of the day, there was only one good Pirates film, and this one is just another attempt to cash in on the good will of that film.