Why Do Critics Hate Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

The fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was a success from my point of view. On the other hand, critics agree that Pirates 4 was a disappointment. I knew that the new Pirates movie would be a flop in critics eyes  but not for the reason that it was a bad movie, but for the reason that it was another Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

You would think that Pirates 4 would be a stretch because the two previous movies were one story put into two, and the third movie seemed like the end of Pirates of the Caribbean. I agree that the franchise could have ended there and they could have called it good but I, and I'm sure many others, crave Johnny Depp's iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow or just another Pirates movie. Yes, the franchise has to end somewhere but lets keep it going for now.

The first movie of the franchise was a huge success with the critics and the box office. It was the first we heard of Captain Jack Sparrow and the first we heard of the franchise. The first of a franchise is one of the many key points why critics loved it. It was fresh and something everyone loved. The characters in this movie was perfection. The development between William Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) was accomplished in a very successful way and Barbossa's (Geoffery Rush) hate relationship between him and Jack made the movie even more complete. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was good in critics eyes for the same reason it is mine, being that it was a good movie all around.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is the second of the franchise and the most successful in the box office as of right now. Critics however didn't favor the movie nearly as much as the first film. I didn't think it was better than the original but I didn't think it was a bad movie. It had too much going on in the story but I didn't think it was a huge step down.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was more confusing than the first two. The third of the franchise was even less liked by critics. I thought that yes, the story is still over flowing with other character's side stories and the movie could have been better if they didn't have so many different stories and situations into one movie but I think that At World's End is in the same range as Dead Man's Chest and wasn't a huge step down at all from the original. It is actually interesting to see how the franchise has developed over time.

In the fourth Pirates, we finally got what we wanted. That being a story that is not confusing, complicated and straight foward. I think this is the best Pirates since the original. Yes, it is different and there is a big change in characters but I enjoyed it. The addition to mermaids is a huge plus for me in more ways than one. It added a great scene but I think the relationship between a mermaid and human is an interesting thing. Also Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has spectacular scenes. Sure, the visual effects aren't the best but they don't take away from the experience. Overall it was a step up from the two previous films.

So why do critics hate the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise? There didn't need to be a fourth film, It was very different from the previous three films and they added characters who seemed to try to take the place of previous characters of the first three. Its only likely that there are people to are sick of the franchise but I would say majority don't mind it. The problem here is that some critics may be sick of the franchise or they didn't care for another one. Should this take away from how good the movie is? No! Unfortunately, this, I believe, is one of the biggest reasons why critics didn't favor On Stranger Tides. It was very different but there is a new director, almost a whole new cast and only three main characters remain. What do you expect?

This is why I think critics hate this film. Sure, they might have other reasons they hate it but these are the reasons that contributed to the horrible response the most. I guarantee that if this was the first we heard of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, it would have gotten a better response.