Pirates des Caraïbes : La fontaine de jouvence

Dix minutes avant la fin, je me suis souvenu que je portais des lunettes 3D et que (probablement) c'était en 3D (il s'agissait d'une projection IMAX). Et la seule chose dont je me souviendrai du film dans un mois, c'est la scène avec les sirènes. Le reste n'est que du coton, porté par les marques, les acteurs et la musique de Zimmer. Je donne trois étoiles diplomatiques car c'est un film ludique et inoffensif. Mais en termes d'expérience, c'est deux heures d'ennui. Les créateurs de films de série B peuvent proposer des idées et de la fraîcheur, alors pourquoi pas l'élite hollywoodienne présente ici ? (19/05/2011)

It's as if someone has fixed your once-upon-a-time favorite theme park attraction for the fourth time. You’ll be entertained by old friends, at times you will be delighted by new ones, your eye will get tired of the effects, your ear will endure the moments when someone speaks and somehow you will partly laugh through it, and partly suffer through it to the end. The most significant feeling it will leave in you after you get out is that you were quite bored. PS: Half a day after watching it, all I remember is the raucous music, the perpetually drunk Depp, and Penelope’s cleavage. An elegant quarter-billion-dollar experience. (20/09/2011)

Yes, after a noticeably over-the-top second film (and I didn’t have the strength see the third film), it's a fairly brisk and honest piece of adventure. Unfortunately, it's hard to shake the impression that rather than an action movie, Marshall made a little girlish historical fetish that made teeth disappear for all the ruffles and a nice design. When a movie pushes them out in a mermaid hunt scene, it's a very sympathetic dark fairy tale. Otherwise, it's more like a hanger for pretty scenery, sympathetic actors and ultra-stupid dialogues that even Depp's clown grins won't save. The more serious the film tries to be in places, the less the whiff of an old pirate farce fits into it (especially the opening London scene is rough). When I add it all up - nice costumes, eye pleasing design, an ever-more edible Penélope, a very edible mermaid and, on the other hand, a poor script, hackneyed choreography and a bunch of useless scenes. No, the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean cannot offend, but is unfortunately also cannot excite. (16/05/2011)

This time the Pirates played the same trumps as once upon a time in part one, i.e. on the purely adventurous tone of the quest for treasure, instead of attempts at mythology or epicness. And it darn worked, even though it’s not so great. To hit the jackpot they needed someone in the director’s chair who can handle dynamic action and comedy timing and who knows how to present everything he has at his disposal. No blockbuster, but no disappointment; just perhaps the absence of chemistry (with one exception) between Depp and Penelope. (19/05/2011)

Given the discreet aura of unsuccessful sequels, which unfairly burdened the second and third parts, a change on multiple fronts was probably the only solution. Gone is the escalating complexity of various intrigues or last-minute pulling of key characters out of the hat. And although I have always enjoyed this approach, I must admit that returning to the classic pirate escapade, in which Jack Sparrow mainly pulls the strings in key moments, is an idea worth all the money. Marshall's academic pedigree successfully builds upon Verbinski's legacy. (21/09/2011)

Of the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series, only the first film deserves any real recognition, as it represented a quite original blend of adventure, pirate spectacle, romance, and fantasy fairy tale, which rightly impressed audiences worldwide and brought generous profits to the producers. The subsequent installments only tried to squeeze as much as possible from the concept and relied on the classic formula and the support of blockbusters, i.e., a gigantic budget that would cover the script's weaknesses, stars in leading roles that would attract public interest, and of course, the advertising potential of the well-known series. I agree with the idea that the fourth installment represents a departure from the previous concept of an adventure spectacle toward pure comedy, led by Johnny Depp. He is the alpha and omega around which everything revolves, and surprisingly, along with a series of special effects and gags, that's enough to earn the film three stars. This is a classic popcorn movie that serves for immediate relaxation, allowing a couple to indulge in themselves for a while, munching on popcorn or drinking cola, without missing out on anything essential. Overall impression: 55%. Surprisingly, despite its numerous shortcomings, it is a little better than the overly stylized third installation in terms of motifs and production design... (18/10/2011)

This didn’t seem any better or worse than the original pirate trilogy movies. I miss Keira, as well as those really expansive and bombastic shots, but this one is more about running through the jungle and Depp’s snappy lines. It’s true that the sequence where they try to capture the mermaids was definitely the best moment, a superb atmosphere and unexpected outcome. Blackbeard is a strange and unexceptional baddie. But this isn’t Ian McShane’s fault, but the script’s because he is exploited too little and if it wasn’t for Barbossa there would be very little happening on the villain storyline front. Otherwise, the 3D is rather low standard (the most shocking moment was the trailer for Transformers 3 before the main feature) and it is obvious that Marshall doesn’t really know how to use it. But Judy Dench’s cameo was nice. (08/06/2011)

I really didn't expect such a bad outcome. An incredibly clichéd film where nothing really works. The action is dull and unremarkable, the actors are average, the editing is boring and meaningless, the plot is the overused cliché of “we form a team – sail towards the goal – we win or lose”. I don't even have to mention how these PG13 pirates look. The only thing worth watching is Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. Now, asking 50 million for the main role also requires balls of iron. Rob Marshall is not a director for adventurous action films. Pirates # 4 is a huge piece of shit, and it's also overpriced and unnecessary. A purely money-driven film without a drop of love for the craft. (04/06/2011)

Almost a week since the screening, I'm downgrading it to two stars. A two-hour recycling of ideas is how I would describe the fourth Pirates. I love the first Pirates movie, I love the second one, and I admire the third one for being SO huge and full of all the amazing things to look at (besides the pathos) ... But what to make of the latest sequel? My biggest regret is that there's almost nothing in the film that I haven't seen in the previous ones. Sparrow's escape in London is reminiscent of the Curse of the Black Pearl, and we’ve also already seen the sword-fight between the "two Jacks", Captain Blackbeard's ship with its "zombified" crew seems belong to Davy Jones' ship, "the race" to get certain artifacts is also too similar to the unwinnable battle for Jones's heart from Dead Man's Chest, the (funny) escape with palm trees reminded me of the escape from the island of man-eaters... And I could go on. The major problem is simply the unimaginative, unfunny script. It also offers a bland storyline with a young priest (of course he has to be sexy), a bland Penelope Cruz and completely useless cameos by Keith Richards or Judi Dench, and it is full of stupidities (balancing on a shipwreck) and is unbelievably boring during the passage on Blackbeard's ship. Verbinski's idea-packed direction is just noticeably absent here. The film is saved by the actors (the scenes with Johnny Depp, Kevin McNally and Geoffrey Rush are the best of all, and it's a pity there are so few of them; Ian McShane is also good), Zimmer's fresh-sounding music, the really great scene with the mermaids and the breaking off of the stalactite tip... But there is not much else to write home about. I would say that this one will be more enjoyed by people who haven't had the pleasure of seeing the previous films. I didn't have much fun, and that's a shame. (19/05/2011)

Weak, for me even worse than the critically panned third part. The change of director unfortunately had a significant effect and the fantastic and spectacular set-pieces of the previous films look bland and unremarkable here. But that wouldn't matter so much if they had come up with a new original idea, and probably the weakest and most painful point is the script, which slowly picks up in intensity, only to disappoint with a dull ending. Much more than before, everything here stands and falls on the character of Johnny Depp, who, notwithstanding his excellent performance and some good moments, also basically rides on a wave of uninteresting dialogue that doesn't fit this series at all. The anticipated Geoffrey Rush has little space in the first half, and in the second half, like the others, he runs out of steam on an unfinished script that just seems to float by from beginning to end at the same pace and without any significant idea. It’s still an enjoyable adventure, but it lacks a lot of fun and I have my doubts about the fifth episode. (15/09/2011)

Cela faisait bien longtemps que je n'étais pas revenu aux Pirates et le film ne m'a ni enthousiasmé, ni totalement déçu. Le quatrième volet m'a semblé manquer d'ancrage et il aurait mérité un dramaturge et un peu de sophistication. D'un autre côté, Barbossa et Barbe Noire sont toujours amusants. Et quand les sirènes franco-espagnoles commencent à se rassembler autour d'eux, ça met directement le spectateur dans une meilleure humeur. (17/06/2023)

I expected the same sort of disaster as the third installment, and I wasn’t far from wrong. The franchise is like a teabag that is reused over and over again. The only difference is the person whom the producers manage to talk into starring in it. This time, it fell on Penélope Cruz who would have done better if she had made something with Almodóvar, and with her my favorite Ian McShane, a great man of mostly small roles. It was his presence and the absence of the same old Bloom/Knightley duo that made me give the film a higher rating than the third installment. Otherwise, what I wrote about the previous film applies here, too: spectacular, pretentious, long, and vacuous. (16/12/2016)

I quite enjoy the series and even the fourth part didn't disappoint me much, maybe because I didn't expect anything from it. Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane were very pleasant additions, Geoffrey Rush is absolutely great. Jack Sparrow is a bit worn out, mainly because Depp plays similarly in other films as well, but it simply belongs to the "Pirates". Yeah, it's good entertainment for the afternoon. (19/03/2014)

The whole movie, and in fact almost the entire franchise, completely depends on Depp's performance. Depp was good, the rest of it worthless and Zimmer’s soundtrack perfect as always. (10/01/2012)