A pirate's life for me.

So I saw this yesterday, and actually, I enjoyed it! I went in expecting the ultimate worst, but it was better than I expected.

The plot for me was a little weak-ish. Basically, everyone in the world is after the Fountain of Youth (as in Ponce de Leon, and that nasty insufferable water down in St. Augustine), but we really don't know why. Apart from the whole "eternal life" business. Also, I liked the Blackbeard character, but I felt he was underdeveloped, as was his backstory with Captain Barbossa (played once again by the brilliant Geoffrey Rush). And as much as I loved Davy Jones in the second movie, I felt that Blackbeard was a more formidable and realistic enemy (despite having a magical sword that controls his ship...hey, it's more plausible than a crew made up of barnacle-men, right?).

I liked the banter between Penelope Cruz's character and Captain Jack Sparrow. I thought it was cute, and they had good chemistry onscreen. I wanted to know more about their backstory, too, but I feel like it was left shrouded for a reason. I think my favorite part was the inclusion of a captured clergyman and his weird quasi-relationship with a captured mermaid. Actually, the mermaids in general were my favorite part. It's such a huge part of pirate-lore that I'm surprised it wasn't done sooner. But I think they actually did a really wicked job with all that.

Overall: So well acted. The plot could be nonexistent and if you have a cast that talented and that into what they're doing, you can't really fail (also cameo appearances by Keith Richards and Dame Judi Dench can't really be a bad thing). If the plot had been tweaked and developed a little more, this one might've been as good as the first. As it stands, it was still better than the nutsy scene with 100 Jack Sparrows and the part where Tia Dalma, resident voodoo queen (oh yeah, and CALYPSO) grows to epic proportions, a la Ursula in "The Little Mermaid."

My biggest gripe with this movie is that I will now never be able to publish my pirate story, which features a Spanish lady-pirate and an epic scene involving carriage-jumping (which was also in the movie) without being accused of plagiarism. Oh well. I wasn't planning on publishing that till much, much later anyway. ;)

Overall: Maybe like a 6-7 out of 10. It was funny (I laughed out loud at some of the quips), piratical, and overall just a fun summer flick. Don't expect anything Oscar-worthy, but if you're just looking for a more character-based romp with Jack Sparrow, this probably won't disappoint.