Having seen the movie just last night, I felt it would be good to write up my review on it while it was still nice and fresh in my mind.
First off, let me start off by saying that while I am a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan, I did my best to review it in the perspective of just a regular viewer. That way, it would be more balanced in terms of bias.
The Plot
Let me start off by saying that I found the plot for this movie a lot more interesting than the last two (Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.) It's flexibility in terms of adventuring to actual places outside of the Caribbean, the involvement of actual historical figures, and it's overall premise made it a lot more enjoyable for all viewers, instead of just the hardcore pirate fan. This plot felt like it was a completely different movie from all the others, yet still maintaining that Pirates of the Caribbean touch - which is a good thing, trust me.
A major plus about the plot line is that it takes us all back to the focus of the first movie - it being a
pirate movie. Unlike the last two movies, which were very indepth in terms of the romance between Will and Elizabeth, this one does a pretty good job at bringing us back to the aspects that made us fall in love with this franchise the first time. There are only two minor romances in the film, both of which that are big enough as to influence the story, but not so large as to overshadow it.
Where the plot of this movie really shines, however, is the fact that it's a very well-rounded story in terms of all of it's characters. Jack may be the main character, but he doesn't necessarily dominate the screen - you'll find that about half of the movie is centralized around following Barbossa and Blackbeard (both of whom I'll get to in a second.)
The Actors
Johnny Depp did a very good job at covering Jack Sparrow, as usual. I think that the main reason why he may appear "off" in this film (trust me, it's still good ole' Jack) is by the fact that he doesn't have a Captain in front of his name - i.e., he himself doesn't run the characters in the movie. At the same time, however, this gives us a new side to Jack Sparrow, away from the commanding aspects of him. It may be odd to see him as a member of somebody elses crew, but Depp still does a pretty good job of recreating him in that spectrum.
The addition of Penelope Cruz to the series is a welcome one, in some respects. When she's in her prime in the movie, the aggressive, fiery Angelica, she does a very convincing job at it. However, at some points, her acting becomes very placid, and you kinda lose that sense of her being as ruthless as she should be.
Minor and secondary actors also do a very good job at capturing that pirate essence. But, forget about all of them - the acting in this movie is once again swept away by Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa) and, as a surprising addition to the powerhouses of this franchise, Ian McShane (Blackbeard.) Their presence in the movie overpowers that of anybody else in the movie, and you can be assured that when these two meet in the movie, sparks will fly.
The Setting
While the movie itself takes place is many awe-inspiring, beautiful areas that the movies haven't even covered before, where the characters are and why will become very confusing right after the start of the movie. You're going to need to have a pretty good ear to get an idea of where they are from time to time, because even I couldn't catch that. Not to say that the plot is hard to follow - just, the setting is.
Another thing is that between the 137 minutes this movie makes up, setting changes don't happen extremely often like the last few movies. This slower pace in terms of moving around might seem a little weird, but not too slow as so that the movie becomes unenjoyable. (Like the entire entrance of True Grit.)
Jack + Angelica = Meh.
I'll be perfectly honest - the idea of Jack falling in love with an old girlfriend made me skeptical. And, truth be told, it did it's job. I really did not find any pleasure in Jack romantically intermingling with Angelica, except for the few moments where he brings his humor to the stand (which often provides some of the best moments in the movie.) It just seemed off to me - there wasn't that zest like in the second movie when Jack kisses Elizabeth.
Overall
Overall, this movie does an outstanding job of matching up with, if not surpassing it's previous members. It's arguable as to whether this was the best movie in the series, but one thing is for certain in this old pirate's heart was that it certainly wasn't the worst. For any pirate fan, this movie is definately a must-see - and for regular viewers, yeah, go see it too.
So, my final verdict? Given it's substantial number of pros, matched with it's group of cons, Pirates of the Caribbean deserves four surly sailors...
....out of five.