Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

For the last two weeks, my children have been obsessing over three different countdowns:

The countdown for the end of school.....

The countdown to Kung Fu Panda 2.......

And the countdown for Pirates of the Caribbean 4......

Alright, alright...I was counting down to this one too.

All of our their obsessing has finally come to fruition.  Yesterday, we snuck out of a school picnic early so we could hit the matinee showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  And it was worth the wait.  It did not have Will and Elizabeth....but it had mermaids, zombies, and best of all:  Blackbeard.

He's a bad, bad man.  :)

(I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my insane love for Ian McShane's voice here before......if you missed it, check out this post:  Shhhh....I'm listening the sound of Ian McShane's voice rumbling in my head)

This director even got Dame Judi Dench to stage a cameo!  She's another one of those people with a truly amazing voice.  I'm very in awe of her. 

A lot of people have mentioned that they are disappointed that Will and Elizabeth are not in this installment, but to be honest, neither me nor my hubby missed them.  Their story was concluded in the third movie, and there was enough going on in this movie that their absence wasn't even noted.

The chemistry between Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz was very good.  I liked her role as Angelica...Blackbeard's long-lost daughter who is desperately trying to thwart fate and keep him alive and with her.  (He's completely behind this plan, btw).  She has a history with Jack and their back-and-forth is pretty humorous. 

This movie has much more of the feel and span of The Curse of the Black Pearl, rather than the epic feel of At World's End.  But it's good, and worth the watch.  And, as with all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, stay for the clip at the end.  It's not especially important, but it's good for a chuckle.