Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I had the opportunity to preview Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in IMAX 3D this week. Overall, Dadda monkey and I really enjoyed it. It had a good story, compelling characters, and great action scenes (though maybe a tad too many). We wisely decided to leave the monkeys at home not just because of the late hour, but because it's rated PG-13. Some people think I'm over protective, but I'm just not comfortable with my children seeing violent scenes at these young ages.

On Stranger Tides was a lot more action paced and not quite as juvenile as the second and third installments of Pirates. The scenery is fantastic and the movie keeps you looking forward to what happens next. As the viewer, you get to go along on the adventure with Jack Sparrow and it's a long, tumultuous journey. To be honest, I felt it was about 20-30 minutes longer than it needed to be. That could also be because I'm used to watching short condensed children's shows or because we haven't been to a movie in eons. Along that line, some of the 3D effects were spectacular, but they got sparser and more mundane as the movie went on until the end of the movie where they picked up again. I'm not sure this movie warrants paying the extra money to watch it in 3D, but I do recommend you see it. Also, Dadda monkey didn't like Penelope Cruz's character. I didn't mind her, but there was a sub-story that started to intrigue me when they encountered the mermaids, but it doesn't seem to have come to a satisfying conclusion.

As with the other Pirates installments, this one left open ended so I won't be surprised to see a 5th one. If you liked the previous Pirates movies, you'll enjoy this one just as much if not more and even if you haven't seen the previous ones, you'll be able to jump right into this story.