Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

(M) WDHE DVD/BD

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and company return for the fourth film in the Pirates series.

This time they’re searching for the Fountain of Youth — as are the Spanish, Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Angelica Teach (Penelope Cruz) and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).

There is plenty of swashbuckling for those who like that kind of thing but the wandering and slightly thin plot doesn’t help much.

Philip the captive missionary (Sam Claflin) plays an interesting role, counterpointing Blackbeard’s brutality with compassion towards the mermaid, Syrena. Watch out if you thought mermaids were a cheerful lot.

Entertaining enough but you wouldn’t say that On Stranger Tides has set up the arrival of Pirates 5 in 2013 as something to get too excited about.

Dave Cornford