Directed by: Rob Marshall
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush
Rating: PG-13

Johnny Depp stars as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

It's hard to believe that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is scaled down from previous Pirates movies. The two-plus hours of spectacle involve, among other things, a search for the Fountain of Youth, conflict between the British and the Spanish, killer mermaids, father-daughter conflicts, and, of course, quests for immortality. You can see how the writers have really tried to keep it simple this time.

In On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland) is back as the mischievous Captain Jack Sparrow, who this time finds himself in London looking for a crew and a ship (or so say the rumors). Incidentally, the Royal Navy would like Sparrow to help find the fabled Fountain of Youth, as word is spreading that the Spanish are already on their way. Of course, Sparrow is in no rush to help the British, especially since longtime foe Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech) is heading their fleet. Instead, Sparrow falls in with an old flame, Angelica (Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), who might be the only person as devious as Sparrow himself. He ends up on the ship of the legendary Blackbeard (Ian McShane, TV's Deadwood), where Angelica is first mate. Blackbeard is searching for the fountain, trying to avoid a prophecy that predicts his imminent death. And so, the race is on—to get Ponce de Leon's silver chalices, from which the fountain's water must be drunk; to harvest a mermaid's tears, which are part of the fountain ritual; and, of course, to find the fountain itself.

On Stranger Tides represents a dramatic shift from one chapter of the series to another, as we leave behind old characters (no more Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley) in favor of new ones. And behind the scenes, Rob Marshall (Chicago) steps in to direct, replacing Gore Verbinski. But these big changes haven't made On Stranger Tides feel drastically different from the first three movies, except that the plot is maybe a little more straightforward. The same writers from the first three movies, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, are back for the fourth, so the script is clever and fun and at times a little bit stupid—in other words, just like the Pirates movies have always been.

And just like the other parts of the series, the actors slide into their roles with ease. Depp and Rush have been here before, so now they're comfortable enough in their roles that they make it look effortless. Depp becomes the overwhelmingly charming and goofy Sparrow as if it were his own alter ego; and Rush, fresh off his Oscar-nominated turn in The King's Speech, is back to being the stern, scabby pirate Captain Barbossa as though he had never been off set. Cruz and McShane, the principal newcomers, are having fun too, McShane playing up Blackbeard as vicious but absentminded and Cruz using her wits (and good looks) to beguile Depp whenever possible. Normally, I would say that all the actors are too over-the-top to be taken seriously, but then, the plot and the sets and the costumes and the action sequences are all equally outlandish. Even the serious subplot, a tragic love story of sorts, takes place between a priest and a mermaid.

While On Stranger Tides is a lot of fun, don't get me wrong: it's no cinematic masterpiece. For an early-summer blockbuster movie, it does its job, and does it well. It might be more than two hours long, but it doesn't feel like it. It also leaves the door open for more sequels, which, I suppose, is a good thing. If I have any reason to doubt that, it's not so much that the movies will get formulaic—although that's going to be a threat, sooner or later—but that Depp is getting too old to prance about in sword fights. Of course, that hasn't been much of an issue for Geoffrey Rush, so the Pirates franchise could potentially go on for several more movies. I'm not complaining.

Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania.