As Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens, Jack Sparrow is once again down on his luck. He is without a ship and he's in London attempting to con his way into an expedition, along with his faithful first mate, Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally). However, Jack soon finds himself in front of the King of England (Richard Griffiths) who asks him to lead a search for The Fountain of Youth, in order to find it before the Spanish do. Jack flees from this offer, in order to pursue a rumor that someone has been using his name to recruit a crew. This search leads Jack to Angelica (Penelope Cruz), an old flame, who admits to impersonating Jack. He is taken aboard the ship of Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who is also on a search for the Fountain. Meanwhile, Captain Barbossa has been retained by the British to lead a crew on the same search. As Blackbeard and Barbossa race to find the hidden legend, Jack tries to turn the situation to his advantage.

As you know, the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was inspired by a ride at the Disney theme parks. This doesn't sound like the greatest basis for a movie, but the result was OK (certainly better than 2003's The Haunted Mansion). Now, what about this -- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is based on a pirate novel by Tim Powers which has nothing to do with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Is that a good idea? Well, on the positive side, a well-written novel could provide a detailed story which could result in a deep movie. On the other hand, can a book which has nothing to do with the series be properly adapted to fit the Pirates of the Caribbean universe?

The result is a movie which contains familiar elements, but somehow feels alien at the same time. With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides we get only three returning characters -- Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, and Mr. Gibbs. (Keith Richards reprises his role as Jack's father, but it's only a cameo). Otherwise, everything here is very new. Well, most of it. It wouldn't be a Pirates movie without a convoluted storyline and we certainly get that here. We have Jack, Barbossa, and Blackbeard all competing to get to the Fountain of Youth, while the Spanish are also present in the background, also competing for the quest. This primary story is intertwined with Jack's past with Angelica, the hunt for a mermaid (which is an integral part of the quest), and a young missionary, Philip (Sam Claflin). These elements both add to the story and take the focus away from the primary objective, and the movie feels like its trying to shove in as much as possible.

The result is a movie which feels like a messy mish-mash. It wasn't until the film was over that I realized what the biggest problem was -- I never thought that I'd say this, but I missed Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley. Will and Elizabeth were a necessary part of the first three films, as they were the link to the audience. They were the "normal people" amongst a cast of crazy characters. We don't get that element in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Everyone is either a pirate or a monster of some sort, save for Philip, and his decisions quickly disqualify him as a link to the audience. We also miss the old Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp puts in another great performance, but the material simply doesn't do him justice. Jack isn't very funny and we never get that great "Is he a hero or a villain?" vibe which went with the character in the earlier movies. (I also hated the fact that the movie opened with Jack once again down on his luck. This has gotten very old.) Director Gore Verbinski is missed as well. Rob Marshall may have done a fine job with Chicago, but he's clearly out of his element here, as the pacing gets very slack at times and the action scenes fall flat.

Was the public clamoring for another Pirates of the Caribbean movie? I don't know, but I do know that if you were going to make one and you didn't want it to look like a total "money-grab", then it had better be a great movie. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides misses the mark on that one. Sure, it's great to see Jack Sparrow back in action, but he's been placed in a sub-par movie. The worst part of the whole experience is that I simply didn't care.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides tells us what happened to The Black Pearl, but it doesn't tell us what happened to The Black Pearl on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. The picture shows a nice amount of detail and we can clearly see textures on objects. Even on this non 3-D version, the depth is well-done. The colors look very good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 5.8 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This is a nice track. The stereo effects are nicely done, as they are very detailed and show good separation. The surround sound effects really bring the action scenes to life, most notably the scene which introduces what Blackbeard's ship can do. These effects are very detailed and we can pick out individual sounds. The subwoofer effects are powerful and wall-rattling.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-ray Disc contains a surprisingly small amount of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Rob Marshal and Executive Producer John Deluca. "Bloopers of the Caribbean" is a 3-minute Gag Reel. "Lego Pirates of the Caribbean" (5 minutes) is a 5-part CG animated feature which shows characters from the movie in Lego form. This is sort of interesting, but I had expected it to be funnier.