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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDESMovie Reviews
Action adventure and sequel to three prior movies, about two pirates competing to locate the Fountain of Youth. Cast:Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally, Geoffrey RushDirector:Rob MarshallRelease Date:May 20, 2011DVD Release:October 18, 2011From:Walt Disney PicturesRating:PG-13Length:2 hr 17 minIn 3D
OCTOBER 18, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Fair Reviews
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides played to fair reviews. • Katey Rich wrote for Cinema Blend, "...it's hard to imagine walking out of the theater begging for more where that came from.... feels more like a franchised product than rousing summer blockbuster..." • And Kyle Smith wrote in the New York Post, "...made me feel like a kid again — bored, stuck, waiting for something more interesting to come along." More Reviews Below...
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Positive Reviews (50 Reviews, reviews below)
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Penelope Cruz livens things up somewhat... And campy Rush continues to amuse... But the entertaining flick gets bogged down by endless, listless swordfights."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 124 words, 05/19/11
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "...feels like an antiaging tonic that's being forced on the audience.... so straightforward yet plodding that it puts the old back in old-fashioned entertainment..."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 769 words, 05/20/11
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...often incoherent and crammed with pointless details. The more sequels spun off, the clearer it becomes that one movie about these swashbucklers would have sufficed."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 05/20/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "The movie is fun until they set sail.... It's all impossible leaping and incomprehensible cutting... all of the movement of action and none of the excitement."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 05/20/11
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...starts out briskly enough, with a couple of good action routines... [but] bogs down in the seemingly infinite twists and bits of business leading up to the climax..."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 787 words, 05/16/11
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: MODERATE(cg) "The story does not engage, the characters are stick figures, the action sequences are perfunctory... a relatively cheap way to numb the mind and dull the senses."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 971 words, 05/19/11
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (14 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...the least strange episode so far, with none of the cartoonish exuberance or creepy-crawly effects that made its predecessors intermittently delightful..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 791 words, 05/20/11
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Depp somehow manages to keep this ship of fools afloat. But just barely.... 'On Stranger Tides' is still not seaworthy, nor Sparrow worthy for that matter."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 05/20/11
John Anderson, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "...achieves something novel: It is hysterical and dull at the same time.... if there's such a thing as memorably inconsequential, this movie is it."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 536 words, 05/20/11
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: POOR "I've never seen a film in which what was actually onscreen seemed so irrelevant.... a pirate movie with no emotional -- or even melodramatic -- clarity."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 05/23/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "The movie is fun until they set sail.... It's all impossible leaping and incomprehensible cutting... all of the movement of action and none of the excitement."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 05/20/11
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: MODERATE(cg) "...struggles to stay afloat but finally sinks under the weight of its computer-rendered fakery, which the addition of 3-D does absolutely nothing to improve."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 301 words, 05/14/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "I lay most of the blame at the feet of Rob Marshall ('Chicago,' 'Nine'), who replaces Gore Verbinski at the helm of the series and has absolutely no feel for the material."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 05/19/11
KEY CITIES (14 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...fresh and bracingly exhilarating... Rob Marshall swiftly and without fuss delivers the action set pieces and eye-popping escapism the series has come to stand for."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 767 words, 05/20/11
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "There's little if anything here to keep us emotionally invested... frankly, the wow factor isn't that great."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 541 words, 05/20/11
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: MODERATE(cg) "...a competent, energetic action romp, played with as much vigor as Johnny Depp can deliver, with a new spitfire (Penelope Cruz) as his female foil."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 594 words, 05/20/11
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "For all its slam-bang adventure... a very timid movie. It has sensational stunts, epic scope, baroque set design and superb special effects but not much wind in its sails."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 611 words, 05/20/11
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "...gets the job done, but just barely, and without that extra 3D dimension and an unforgettably spooky few scenes in the middle, it would be a paltry thing indeed."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 865 words, 05/20/11
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE(cg) "Nothing is clear except the fact that we've seen this before.... There's one good, spooky sequence with a school of mermaids..."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 531 words, 05/19/11
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "The conversations almost invariably consist of characters explaining themselves or congratulating themselves for being themselves. Nothing happens. Nothing."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 674 words, 05/20/11
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "Jack Sparrow's got little opportunity to run wild and mostly takes second billing to a host of action scenes... reining him in makes the whole exercise fairly pointless."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 607 words, 05/20/11
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: POOR(cg) "...even the most forgiving moviegoer will recognize this movie as the blatant cash-grab that it is. Even Johnny Depp... gives a lazy, uninspired turn as Capt. Jack Sparrow."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 729 words, 05/20/11
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...it's hard to imagine walking out of the theater begging for more where that came from.... feels more like a franchised product than rousing summer blockbuster..."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 792 words, 05/16/11
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: MODERATE(cg) "...a smaller film than past installments, by design and necessity. Which often makes it feel lightweight, but that's still better than bloated."(See all of Tasha Robinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 05/19/11
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: GOOD(cg) "...cluttered and convoluted and big... at the very least, it has a good-natured glow about it.... it does attempt to offer a few silvery flashes of wonder..."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 817 words, 05/14/11
Andrew Schenker, Slant: POOR(cg) "3D as uninspired as the film's staging, plotting, and characters... There's nothing strange -- or in any way extraordinary -- about this dim-witted bore."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 595 words, 05/16/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "I lay most of the blame at the feet of Rob Marshall ('Chicago,' 'Nine'), who replaces Gore Verbinski at the helm of the series and has absolutely no feel for the material."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 05/19/11
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...junk-food cinema... But I scarfed it down... Sometimes junk food is satisfying, in its own limited, instantly forgettable, hungry-again-an-hour-later sort of way."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,000 words, 05/17/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "...the IMAX print I saw was so murky as to make you give thanks for the few scenes shot in simple sunlight... never before have I wanted to chloroform an entire orchestra."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 287 words, 05/20/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...the least strange episode so far, with none of the cartoonish exuberance or creepy-crawly effects that made its predecessors intermittently delightful..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 791 words, 05/20/11
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Depp somehow manages to keep this ship of fools afloat. But just barely.... 'On Stranger Tides' is still not seaworthy, nor Sparrow worthy for that matter."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 05/20/11
Dana Stevens, Slate: POOR "...overlong (two hours and twenty minutes), overstuffed (with at least four separate beats that could count as endings), and extremely loud..."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 05/19/11
Andrew Barker, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...almost brings to mind Umberto Eco's famous description of 'Casablanca' as a hundred different cliches celebrating a reunion."(See all of Andrew Barker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,077 words, 05/12/11
Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...the film is more serious in the hands of a new director, Rob Marshall, and thanks to Penelope Cruz it's also a good deal sexier."(See all of Ray Bennett's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 834 words, 05/10/11
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "Depp somehow manages to keep this ship of fools afloat. But just barely.... 'On Stranger Tides' is still not seaworthy, nor Sparrow worthy for that matter."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 05/20/11
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD(cg) "...leaves much to be desired, but, overall, the movie succeeds in capturing some of fun, humor, and adventure that defined the first film..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,087 words, 05/13/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...the least strange episode so far, with none of the cartoonish exuberance or creepy-crawly effects that made its predecessors intermittently delightful..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 791 words, 05/20/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR "...the IMAX print I saw was so murky as to make you give thanks for the few scenes shot in simple sunlight... never before have I wanted to chloroform an entire orchestra."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 287 words, 05/20/11
17.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's reviews are separated by an average 17.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (50 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's reviews cover 87.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 30,500 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 610 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Coverage, Volume & Length (50 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 8.6 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's reviews on average broke 8.6 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (50 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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