The last thing I wanted to see was another PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN film, after struggling through two-and-a-half hours of thankless set-up in DEAD MAN’S CHEST and actively hating the tonally inconsistent and bewildering AT WORLD’S END. The disappointment of these films had been crushing. For me THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL was something of a revelation, a film I had heard next to nothing about and of which I expected little more. It transpired to be a wonderful old-fashioned adventure that harked back to an era of swash-buckling daring-do I believed long dead, and dare I say that with ON STRANGER TIDES the series is finally back on track and heading in the right direction – telling stand-alone tales with only occasional recurring characters.

We’re not there yet and Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are still unfamiliar with the true strengths of the series. Disappointingly, they are still too dependent on Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. When the film should be expanding its universe of warring nations and ruthless cutthroats by introducing new lead characters, Sparrow is pushed front and centre to play the dramatic lead, where he is all at sea. Sparrow is the Han Solo of the series, not the Luke Skywalker with the clearly defined emotional journey. He’s a lovable rogue who won’t be tied to a relationship or stick his neck out for a woman. Jack’s in it for himself and seeks only life’s simple pleasures and trying to change that will only serve to ruin the character and hamper the story. ON STRANGER TIDES does introduce us to new characters – Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his wayward daughter Angelica (Penelope Cruz) but there’s nobody to take up the mantle left by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. As the film progresses it pays increasing attention to young missionary Philip (the unknown Sam Claflin), especially when he begins to show a romantic attachment to a captured mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), but this young, attractive couple seems something of an afterthought with little time given to developing their relationship or enamouring them with the audience.

The plot is also dreadfully contrived, especially in it’s opening act. Jack is in London for no discernible reason other than to fleetingly attempt to break his first mate Gibbs out of jail, where he stands accused of being Sparrow. This makes no real sense as there is word known by everyone including the king himself that Sparrow is at large in town recruiting a crew. Jack sets off to find his impersonator, only to discover it is former flame Angelica. Why she chose to impersonate Jack Sparrow, other than to have Cruz apply stick-on facial hair and a jaunty gait is never explained. Also Geoffrey Rush’s Barbossa makes a return, now inexplicably allied with the King of England. Again, why the King would trust a pirate to lead a crew in search of the Fountain of Youth is never sufficiently dealt with, and it soon becomes apparent that logic is not high on the film’s list of priorities. Get everyone together and send them off after the same mythical treasure and all will be well seems to be the order of the day.

In fact, the film’s raison d’etre is best summed up by a scene towards the end of the film. As Barbossa stands off against Blackbeard, with their respective crews in support, Jack stops them and asks if they are really all to fight each other over a disagreement that concerns only the two captains. Everyone responds in the resounding positive and battle commences. Here, reasons are not nearly as important as the spectacle itself. The circumstances and motivations are irrelevant so long as the film delivers impressive action sequences, entertaining performances and a lush, visually arresting portrait of life on the high seas. And the unassailable truth is that on those terms, ON STRANGER TIDES is a resounding success.

The film is a feast for the senses, whether on board Blackbeard’s possessed vessel the Queen Anne’s Revenge, careening through the crowded, muddy streets of London or battling a seductive school of bloodthirsty mermaids. The attention to detail is remarkable, with each sodden rope, wooden leg or cracked golden tooth perfectly rendered to transport us to a convincing yet fantastical world and keep us there for the film’s duration. While the 3D is as redundant as always, the film looks absolutely ravishing in IMAX where the art direction and costume design can be truly appreciated. Elsewhere, the characters are not particularly well fleshed out – Blackbeard never fully capitalizes on his reputation as the most feared pirate on the Seven Seas nor the considerable acting chops of Ian McShane, and results in being just another gruff old pirate. Likewise, Angelica and Jack’s supposed romantic past and steamy reunion never produces so much as a spark and is about as sexy as a pirate’s soggy drawers. There’s also an entirely dispensable sub-plot involving the Spanish Armada that could easily have been thrown overboard at no expense to the story.

However, despite its many narrative flaws, ON STRANGER TIDES shows that Disney and Bruckheimer are beginning to understand that this is a world brimming with stories worth telling. Let’s hope that the subsequent chapters push Sparrow increasingly to the periphery – where he works best – and introduce some well-defined new characters with whom we can nurture a genuine emotional attachment. Suffice to say that these stranger tides may yet take the series where it needs to go and for the time being at least, I am back on board and ready to set sail once more.