Black Mass

For F*** Magazine

BLACK MASS

Director : Scott Cooper

Cast : Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Corey Stoll, Peter Saarsgard, David Harbour, Rory Cochrane, Julianne Nicholson

Genre : Crime/Drama

Run Time : 122 mins

Opens : 17 September 2015

Rating : M18 (Coarse Language And Violence)

A “Black Mass” is a type of Satanic ritual, a dark inversion of the Catholic Mass. This true crime drama recounts the profane partnership between the FBI and one of the most notorious gangsters in United States history. James “Whitey” Bulger (Depp) is the head of the Irish-American Winter Hill gang in South Boston. His brother Billy (Cumberbatch) is a United States senator. Their childhood friend John Connolly (Edgerton), now an FBI agent, approaches Whitey with the offer of becoming an informant in order to take down the rival Angiulo crime family. As Whitey’s clout increases, he begins to be more brazen in his criminal activities, with his fingers in everything from drug trafficking to a Jai alai betting racket to funding the Irish Republican Army, almost casually killing anyone who crosses him. Whitey and his partners Stephen Flemmi (Cochrane), Kevin Weeks (Plemons) and Johnny Matorano (W. Earl Brown) continue their criminal reign of South Boston unchecked, benefitting from a deal with the Feds that seems too good to be true. 

Black Mass is based on the book Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. The “unholy alliance” between two childhood friends which would end up having untold ramifications is one of the most morbidly intriguing organized crime stories in recent memory. “Southie kids, we went straight from playing cops and robbers on the playground to doing it for real in the streets,” Kevin Weeks says in the police interview framing device. Working from a screenplay by Jez Butterworth and Mark Mallouk, director Scott Cooper has crafted a crime drama in the mould of Scorsese’s genre-defining mob movies. Black Mass is bleak but never boring to look at, thanks to Masanobu Takayanagi’s cinematography which is slick but not flashy. Cooper stages several moments that are bubbling over with almost unbearable intensity. It is often downright terrifying and it boggles the mind to think how long Whitey’s criminal activities were allowed to go on for. 

Post-Jack Sparrow, it has been difficult to take Johnny Depp very seriously, even with his three Oscar nods. You know it, we know it and Depp himself knows it too. Suffice it to say that this is a far cry from Mortdecai and is the best Depp has been in years. Great acting is about disappearing into the part, and with the help of special effects makeup designed by Depp’s oft-collaborator Joel Harlow, he does indeed. Cooper hired some of Whitey’s former associates as consultants and they looked at footage of Depp as Whitey, simply commenting “that’s Whitey.” Much of Depp’s later work has been characterized by traipsing about with wild abandon, so the subtle, understated quality he brings to bear with this performance is welcome. He convincingly essays a master manipulator, a savvy criminal with an unpredictable streak and delivers searing, disturbing turn as Whitey in what is definitely a high point in his career. 

While the film is primarily Depp’s to carry, there is a vast number of supporting players. Edgerton balances out Connolly’s self-confident air with his inner conflict between loyalty to a boyhood pal and duty to upholding the law, as his turning a blind eye to Whitey’s criminal exploits eventually snowballs. Edgerton does have a tendency to play the role a little broad, but he does bring a good deal of heart to the role. Replacing the initially-cast Guy Pearce, Benedict Cumberbatch gets precious little to do as Whitey’s brother Billy, and how Whitey could get away with so much when his brother was a senator is a plot point that is never explored to a satisfying extent. He makes a valiant attempt at a Boston accent but struggles to nail it. Kevin Bacon kind of floats in and out of the film as Connolly’s boss, spending most of his screentime haranguing the agent under his charge. As is the case with many mob movies, we don’t spend a lot of time with the female characters, but perhaps that’s just a reflection of the true story. Both Dakota Johnson and Julianne Nicholson get to share excellent scenes with Depp though, one of which is skin crawlingly creepy. 

With its framing device of Whitey’s associates being interviewed by the police years after the fact, the film can come off as episodic rather than sweeping and involving, but it is riveting nonetheless. Director Cooper is clearly a student of the mob movie subgenre and while Black Mass owes a great deal to the work of Scorsese and his ilk, it doesn’t come off as mere mimicry, the violent consequences of his “unholy alliance” laid bare. 

Summary: A true crime biopic that gets under one’s skin, Black Mass may not reach the loftiest heights of the mob movie subgenre but it boasts a stellar, terrifying turn from Johnny Depp. 

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong 

Mortdecai

For F*** Magazine

MORTDECAI

Director : David Koepp
Cast : Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jonny Pasvolsky, Jeff Goldblum
Genre : Comedy
Run Time : 107 mins
Opens : 29 January 2015
Rating : NC-16 (Sexual References)

He’s debonair, he’s dapper, he’s dumb – very, very dumb. Johnny Depp is Lord Charlie Mortdecai, an art dealer who finds himself embroiled in some very troubling business. When he is roped in by Inspector Martland (McGregor) of MI5 to assist in the case of a missing Goya painting, Mortdecai runs afoul of the Russian mafia and international assassin Strago (Pasvolsky). With his loyal valet Jock (Bettany) by his side, Mortdecai traipses across Europe and to Los Angeles to crack the case. To complicate matters, he is in crippling tax debt and a rift develops between him and his beloved wife Johanna (Paltrow) – brought upon by Mortdecai’s decision to grow a moustache.

            Mortdecai is based on Don’t Point That Thing At Me, the first in late author Kyril Bonfiglioli’s series of comic thriller novels. Film critics often describe action comedies as “romps” – there is no better way to describe Mortdecai other than a “romp”. This is a lowbrow movie gleefully prancing about in a highbrow movie’s clothes, tongue ever so firmly planted in cheek from start to finish. The plot features such hoity-toity elements as a priceless Goya painting, art auctions, a Rolls Royce, manors and manservants, yet almost all of the jokes are derived from unsubtle “nyuk nyuk nyuk”-style innuendo. For example, when Mortdecai is informed that he owes £8 million in tax debts, he remarks “I had no idea I was so deep in Her Majesty’s hole.” If you’re rolling your eyes just reading the line, then you should give Mortdecai a wide berth. But if you’re chuckling at it, you will find it easy to go along with all that silliness, and to the film’s credit, it isn’t all that hard to.

            Johnny Depp was once praised for being “daring” and “unique”, embracing oddball roles and shunning typical Hollywood leading men parts. Now, it’s hard to find anyone who takes him seriously but in Mortdecai, Johnny Depp wants to assure you the viewer that he doesn’t take himself seriously either. This is simultaneously a self-aware nod in the direction of Depp’s critics and an act of defiance, a “haters gonna hate”-type deal. Even if you dislike Depp’s shtick with all of your heart, you’ll have to admit it is pretty fun to see the actor dive so deep into the self-parody pool and with such conviction. That said, between the accent, the eyebrow-raising and that sound he makes that is somewhere between a grumble and a whimper, we understand why some viewers might find him all the more annoying after this.

            The rest of the cast do seem to be having a ball. It isn’t a stretch to buy Gwyneth Paltrow as a privileged, cultured aristocrat who has her husband firmly under her thumb and thankfully, she and Depp do share considerably more chemistry than Depp and Angelina Jolie did in The Tourist. Paul Bettany channels Jason Statham as the gruff, faithful sidekick named “Jock Strapp” (see what we mean about this being a lowbrow movie in a highbrow movie’s clothes?) There’s a running gag that the character is libidinous but largely manages not to let his dalliances with assorted buxom women get in the way of his work. Kinda funny. Ewan McGregor, reliable as always, is the straight man in all this. Unfortunately, it seems that the scenes featuring Oliver Platt and Aubrey Plaza have been left on the cutting room floor.

            Frothy and light-hearted, Mortdecai knows what it is and rejoices in that. Sure, it often seems like director David Koepp is attempting a bad Wes Anderson impression and that opening sequence borrows too liberally from that of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but as entertaining fluff, Mortdecai passes muster. Screenwriter Eric Aronson’s adaptation is comically verbose, the linguistic equivalent of a slapstick comedy routine – never mind that Aronson’s only other produced script is the execrable Lance Bass-starring 2001 rom-com On The Line. Lionsgate is planning a franchise and while that might not be particularly easy to sustain, especially when compared with the likes of Lionsgate’s lucrative Hunger Games series, it’s harmless fun that’s disposable but not worthless.

Summary: Johnny Depp knows nobody takes him seriously anymore and goes “what the heck”. While it needs a defter touch, Mortdecai is quite funny and, for the most part, enjoyably silly.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

Transcendence

For F*** Magazine

TRANSCENDENCE

Director: Wally Pfister
Cast:  Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Clifton Collins Jr., Josh Stewart, Cole Hauser, Cory Hardrict
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Run Time: 119 mins
Opens: 17 April 2014
Rating: PG (Some Violence)

In the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp asked “why is the rum gone?” and in Transcendence, he gets to ask “why is the RAM gone?” Depp plays Dr. Will Caster who, along with his wife Evelyn (Hall), is one of the foremost minds in artificial intelligence research. His work has earned the ire of a radical militant anti-technology activist group called RIFT; their operative fatally wounding him. Before Will’s death, he and Evelyn decide to upload Will’s consciousness to a supercomputer, something Will’s best friend Max (Bettany) warns against. As Will in his transcendent form becomes near-omnipotent, Will and Evelyn’s mentor Joseph Tagger (Freeman) works with FBI agent Donald Buchanan (Murphy) to contain and stop Will before he endangers his wife and the world at large.



Transcendence marks the directorial debut of Wally Pfister, winner of a Best Cinematography Oscar for Inception. Perhaps echoing the film’s themes of a wariness of technology in some small way, Pifster is an outspoken critic of shooting on digital format and insisted on shooting Transcendence on 35 mm film. Jack Paglen’s script earned a spot on the 2012 Black List of unproduced screenplays that had garnered the most positive industry buzz. Transcendence is reminiscent of 90s cyber-punk techno-thrillers, bearing shades of The Lawnmower Man, The Thirteenth Floor, eXistenZ, Johnny Mnemonic and The Matrix; also clearly influenced by the works of sci-fi authors William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, both famous for exploring the dynamic relationship between man and machine. Source Code is a recent genre entry that also comes to mind. There’s a bit of Rise of the Planet of the Apes vibe too, with the well-intentioned scientists playing god. While all the above-mentioned films had their outlandish moments (or were outlandish as a whole), Pfister takes great pains to maintain a po-faced plausibility and he is mostly successful.

Pfister’s style as a cinematographer is marked by a clinical precision which curiously didn’t sacrifice too much personality, and that is carried over to Transcendence. As far as directing debuts go, this is an assured first feature and hopefully a sign of great things to come from Pfister. The story has its predictable moments but it makes turns into surprising territory when it matters the most. At the mid-point of the story, Will and Evelyn buy over a dusty, dilapidated town, transforming it into a futuristic cradle of ground-breaking technology, enriching the lives of its residents akin to the forward-thinking pioneer who revolutionises a backward frontier town in a Western. The way in which Evelyn’s love for her husband clouds her judgement is presented compellingly, though there are perhaps one too many spots in which she goes “oh, now you’ve gone too far!” while the story continues apace.



Johnny Depp’s popularity has waned in recent years, moviegoers growing tired of his eccentric shtick and the big-budget bomb The Lone Ranger doing him no favours. You know an actor has played some weird roles when “human consciousness in a supercomputer” is considered relatively normal by his standards. Depp is on good form here, his Will Caster beginning as a loveable just-mad-enough scientist and then progressing into a non-corporeal force of technology without going “the full Skynet”. That’s not particularly easy to play and it is a better career move for Depp than running around with a dead bird on his head.

It might be Depp’s face on the poster (the one that looks like it hasn’t completely loaded) but this is as much Rebecca Hall’s film as it is his. While Evelyn’s characterisation does at times lean towards “female lead being defined by the male character”, she moves the plot forward as much as anyone else does and just like in Iron Man 3, Hall is believable as a scientist and effectively essays a woman struggling with some complex ethical conundrums. Freeman and Murphy’s characters fall squarely into the categories of “mentor figure” and “cop assigned to the case” respectively, but they are as competent as they typically are. Paul Bettany’s part is meatier, as he goes from being Will’s confidant and supporter to being possibly swayed by RIFT’s ideology. As the shady RIFT operative Bree, Kate Mara’s performance brings the likes of The East and The Company You Keep to mind. She’s not the greatest actress but she does lend a degree of sympathetic humanity to what could have been a generic band of bad guys.

Audiences flock to big-budget, spectacle-driven sci-fi blockbusters, but there’s definitely room in the market for techno-thrillers that are smaller in scale but also more thought-provoking, intelligent and carefully-crafted. There are parts of the film that are genuinely chills-inducing – suffice it to say that Cyber-Will doesn’t become a charming, affable Him. Transcendence falls short of brilliance, not digging as deep into its premise as it could have, but it is still engrossing, boasts a top-drawer cast and is satisfyingly cerebral if not mental gymnastics-inducing.

Summary: It’s not quite mind-blowing, but Transcendence is still a well-made, clever and entertaining post-cyber-punk thriller (and the least annoying Johnny Depp has been in a while). Jack in and boot up!


RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

The Lone Ranger

For F*** Magazine

THE LONE RANGER

Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast:  Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter
Genre: Action, Adventure
Run Time: 149 mins
Opens: 4 July 2013
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)

Long before Chuck Norris swaggered across the small screen as Texas Ranger Sgt. Cordell Walker, another had paved the dusty path and worn that silver badge. The Lone Ranger first appeared in radio dramas 80 years ago and has endured as a pop culture icon, astride his noble steed Silver and with his trusty friend and partner Tonto ever by his side. For the first time since 1981, the Lone Ranger rides onto the silver (heh) screen again.

This film is an origin story, portraying the circumstances under which the Lone Ranger and Tonto first met and ‘pardnered’ up. John Reid (Hammer), the new District Attorney of Colby, Texas, happens to be on a train which is also transporting two criminals: notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish (Fichtner) and Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Depp). Cavendish’s crew of bandits break him out as John and Tonto have to save themselves from the train crash. John’s brother Dan (James Badge Dale) deputises him as a Texas Ranger and as advised by Tonto, John dons a domino mask to become The Lone Ranger. The newly-formed pair go about tracking down Cavendish and his fellow crooks as they find themselves in the middle of an explosive dispute over the construction of a trans-continental railway.



The film has been plagued by well-publicised production troubles, including budget problems, rain and snowstorms, wildfires and the tragic drowning of a stuntman. When your western hits a reported budget of around $250 million, maybe something isn’t going right. Some have even predicted this as the “John Carter of 2013”, in reference to Disney’s notorious box office flop from last year.

The thing is, John Carter didn’t have a marquee name like Johnny Depp starring in it. Indeed, director Gore Verbinski and co. seem to be fully aware that Depp is the movie’s best asset. This is a Lone Ranger movie in which the actor playing Tonto gets top billing – it’s like if everyone was making a bigger deal of Robin than Batman. The Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise cemented Depp’s position as a big box office draw and his Jack Sparrow quickly became this generation’s Han Solo. It appears that everyone involved in this film was fully aware of that appeal and tried to milk it for all it’s worth.



Depp has previously portrayed a Native American character in The Brave, which he also directed. Depp’s casting as Tonto has attracted controversy and yes, while stereotypes like “spirit animals” and shamanistic rituals are invoked, the film’s portrayal of the Comanche people is not derogatory. Depp clearly had a ball inhabiting the iconic role, imbuing the character with the eccentricity we’ve come to expect of the actor. For example, Tonto wears a dead bird as a headdress (apparently inspired by Kirby Sattler’s painting I Am Crow). Even if the film’s focus is clearly weighted towards the character who’s ostensibly a sidekick, Depp’s dedication to the part is still enjoyable to watch. It’s hard to imagine the guy’s already 50 years of age.

This means the film doesn’t actually have a lot of faith in its title character, portrayed by Armie Hammer. It’s a less embarrassing role than that of Prince Andrew in last year’s Mirror Mirror, but John Reid has his share of indignities to endure. These include but are not limited to being dragged through horse manure and then having said horse lick scorpions off his face later on. The filmmakers are clearly worried that the Lone Ranger might come off as a boring, generic hero, but Hammer makes him likeable enough and strikes up a decent odd couple chemistry with Depp. Perhaps Reid’s incompetence in this one can be attributed to his rookie status (though it’s more likely a result of Depp exercising his clout as executive producer).



William Fichtner is a gnarly, mangy, frightening presence as the outlaw Butch Cavendish, a ruthless fiend with a disturbing taste for human flesh – there’s just not very much to the character. Similarly, Helena Bonham Carter seems a perfect fit for the role of a gutsy brothel madam with a weaponised prosthetic leg – it’s just that the character is very underused. Tom Wilkinson is not bad as the railroad tycoon who won’t let anything get in the way of his business and Ruth Wilson is believable as frontierswoman Rebecca Reid. The standout supporting player is probably Silver the horse though, who is equal parts gallant and endearing.



Ever since the first Pirates flick became a runaway success, Disney has tried to recapture that with the action-adventure flicks Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the afore-mentioned John Carter, both times not with much success. The Lone Ranger possesses enough of that matinee serial spirit of excitement and adventure to be considered entertaining, featuring several fun action set pieces; the one on a train that kicks off the action reminiscent of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There are some pretty cool stunts, but there’s also just as much conspicuous computer-generated imagery, including ropey digital caribou and rabbits.



However, at 149 minutes, the film certainly feels bloated at times. While there are several moments of levity, most provided by Depp, the film has a surprisingly high body count and for something that’s meant as a nostalgic throwback to old-timey oaters, it’s unnecessarily over-violent. This has been marketed as a family flick from Disney, so it’s a little jarring to see the villain carve out someone’s heart and bite into it. While the film is probably as historically dubious as the Pirates movies, it doesn’t quite have that authenticity or verisimilitude that those films did.

The Lone Ranger himself might be a gifted marksman, but his latest big screen outing is very much hit and miss. Johnny Depp fans will certainly lap up their idol’s portrayal of Tonto and it is the most worthwhile thing in the film. There’s relatively satisfying action and a good number of homages to the classic hallmarks associated with the character (including Rossini’s William Tell Overture as his theme tune) but it probably isn’t “fun for the whole family” as advertised.



SUMMARY: The Lone Ranger attempts to keep the character’s legacy alive and doesn’t do a particularly bad job at it, but this is clearly Johnny Depp’s show and that’s not necessarily an entirely good thing. It’s also weighed down by gratuitous violence and an overlong running time.

RATING: 3 out of 5 STARS 

Jedd Jong

Dark Shadows

For F*** Movie Magazine Singapore

Movie Review                                                                                                                    25/4/12

DARK SHADOWS

(2012)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green

Directed by: Tim Burton

            Tim Burton seems to have found his magic formula for success: slap pale makeup onto Johnny Depp, dress him in Colleen Atwood-designed costumes and have Danny Elfman playing in the background. Here, Burton and his muse take on Dark Shadows, the ‘60s supernatural soap opera created by Dan Curtis. There have been several attempts to revive the series, all falling flat. Do Burton and Depp fare any better?

            Depp plays Barnabas Collins, the wealthy heir to a fishery empire, whose family had relocated from Liverpool to Maine in the 18^th Century. Servant girl Angelique (Green) has fallen for him, but Barnabas spurns her love for Josette (Bella Heathcote). Angelique, secretly a witch, kills Barnabas’ parents, his true love and curses Barnabas to become a vampire. The angry townspeople lock him in a steel coffin and bury him alive.

            200 years later, a construction crew unearths Barnabas’ coffin, and the awoken vampire returns home to Collinswood, the crumbling family mansion. It is now inhabited by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Pfeiffer) and her nuclear family, including brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), rebellious daughter Carolyn (Chloe Moretz), nephew David (Gulliver McGarth), drunken housekeeper Willie (Jackie Earle Haley) and live-in psychiatrist Dr Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) and new arrival governess Victoria Winters (Heathcote) – seemingly a reincarnation of Josette. Barnabas goes about trying to rebuild the family name and fortune, while thwarting the machinations of Angelique – still alive and running the rival Angelbay Seafood business.

            When the trailer for the film was released, many criticised the apparently comedic tone of the film, especially when compared to the deadly serious source material. In the hands of Johnny Depp, Barnabas has become his usual quirky, fish-out-of-water (fitting given the fishery town setting) eccentric. Much of the film plays on his unfamiliarity with 70’s-era America, and while some moments are amusing, other gags are about as old as Barnabas himself.

            The main thing going for Dark Shadows is its 70s setting, as reinterpreted by Tim Burton. His gothic sensibilities and the age of hippies and bad haircuts may seem odd bedfellows, but the collision of these two worlds is visually arresting and undoubtedly stylish, and there’s plenty of nostalgia to be had between the lava lamps, the Carpenters and Alice Cooper as himself (whom Barnabas dubs “the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen”).

The cast is also fairly impressive and generally well-chosen.  Femme fatale Eva Green clearly enjoys vamping (heh) it up and Chloe Moretz gives her a run for her money, which wouldn’t be so unsettling if the actress wasn’t 15 years old. Michelle Pfeiffer makes for a good lady-of-the-house, and Helena Bonham Carter is typically, entertainingly nuts. Bella Heathcote lends a wide-eyed, other-worldly appeal to Josette/Victoria, but is otherwise weaker than her cast mates. There’s also a cameo from another famous cinematic vampire, who has previously played Depp’s father in another Burton film.

            Beyond that however, the cracks start to show, just as they do on Angelique’s face. The film struggles to find a cohesive tone, and the horror and comedy elements don’t blend as well as they should. Burton’s fascination with the grotesque overwhelms other components of the film, and there consequently isn’t much room for meaningful character development. Sometimes the campy approach works for the movie, but just as many times it works against it, diminishing any semblance of weight.

            Another point of contention is that Burton seems to be cribbing from another famous gothic TV family, as evidenced by the film’s tagline “strange is relative” being uncannily similar to “weird is relative”. Truth be told, Morticia, Wednesday, Lurch and Uncle Fester are generally more interesting to watch than the Collins-Stoddards.

            Long-time fans of Burton, Depp and especially the two together are likely to enjoy this, but it’s really more of the same from both, and is nowhere near as inventive or clever as it imagines itself to be. Still, if it’s a vampire having a chat with hippies you’re after, you won’t be too disappointed.

SUMMARY: Aimed squarely at those who speak Burton-ese, but unlikely to make converts of those who don’t, leaving them in the shadows.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

Jedd Jong

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

2011

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane

Directed by: Rob Marshall

            In 1957, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride opened at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, based on the ride and expected to be a flop, brought the big swashbuckling pirate movie back in a big way. And now, Captain Jack is back for a fourth voyage in this movie, based on the novel “On Stranger Tides” by Tim Powers.

            In search of the fabled Fountain of Youth, Captain Jack has to battle the treacherous pirate Blackbeard and encounters his daughter, the beautiful Angelica, with whom he had a fling many years ago. Racing them to the Fountain are Jack’s old rival Barbossa, now in the employ of the King, and the Spaniards.

            For a franchise that was almost swallowed up by its ambitious scope and convoluted plot, On Stranger Tides is a triumphant return to form. This is a sequel in the best sense of the word: carrying on yet starting anew. The story is well-told and the pacing is swift. Everything we loved about the first film is back stronger than ever: the wonderful period atmosphere, the swordfights, chases and naval battles, and, of course, Captain Jack.

            Johnny Depp returns to his defining role like wearing a glove, every amusing mannerism, every witticism, delivered with strong craftsmanship and lithe energy. He’s also armed with some great lines by screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot. Now that the “Will and Elizabeth” story arc from the first three movies has wrapped, attention has returned square to Sparrow, and Depp never once disappoints.

While Depp certainly gets the lion’s share of the limelight, he never hogs it. The new players fit in just right among familiar characters. Cruz and Depp share crackling chemistry, the beautiful and cunning Angelica the only one to ever come close to beating Sparrow at his own game. Ian McShane makes for a very scary Blackbeard, a worthy adversary to Sparrow. Sam Claflin as missionary Philip Swift and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as the mermaid he falls in love with work hard to keep up with the rest of the cast and fare well too.

The old-fashioned spirit of adventure missing from many modern films is alive and well in the fourth Pirates outing. This is a supremely enjoyable ride (almost as much as the source material), filled from start to finish with the same energy that flowed through the veins of the first film.

SUMMARY: Fun in the right places, thrilling in the right places, scary in the right places and humorous in the right places, this is one ship everyone should hop aboard. Arrrrrr!

RATING: 4/5 STARS