Clown prince of 'Tides'

It used to be that supporting characters were the ones wholanded spinoffs of hit shows. Remember how Rhoda and Phyllis went from beingMary Tyler Moore’s quirky friends to having showcases of their own? Or when theoutspoken Maude and the movin’-on-up Jeffersons made their marks on “All in theFamily” and then made it big with self-titled series shortly thereafter?

But it’s the ever-unsteady, bobble-headed Captain JackSparrow, unarguably the main attraction of the “Pirates of the Caribbean”franchise, who has been propelled out of the original trilogy and into — whatshould we call it?: A postscript? A sequel? A footnote? An afterword? —“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

The less charitable might label the project as another tripto the barn to milk the old cash cow; Sparrow’s millions of followers areprobably more enthusiastic. Either way, “Tides” retains the flaky spirit andeye-appealing visuals of the “Pirates” pictures without having to lug aroundthe mythological baggage that piled up in the last two-thirds of the series.

While Sparrow (portrayed once more with winning wooziness by Johnny Depp, who has once again O.D.'d on eyeliner) is reunited with his old nemesis, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush),and there is talk of the fate of Jack’s former vessel, the Black Pearl, you won’thear even a fleeting mention of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) or Elizabeth Swann(Keira Knightley), much less an update on the tentacle-faced Davy Jones (BillNighy).

Perhaps “Tides” is technically a reboot that retains thesame star. Or maybe it’s the cinematic equivalent of “Archie Bunker’s Place,”in which the centerpiece of “All in the Family” was spotlighted in a show thatgrew out of the show he had just finished.

Let’s put it this way: If you love the first three “Pirates”installments, “Tides” will probably suit you fine. If you didn’t go bonkers forthe buccaneers the first time around, it’s unlikely you’ll be swept away by“Tides,” either. Enjoyable enough and reasonably energetic — keep an eye outfor cameos from Keith Richards and Judi Dench, of all people — “Tides” still sometimesfeels like a project that falls slightly short of its ambitions.

Even so, it’s hard to resist the reteaming of Depp andPenelope Cruz, who were an incendiary couple in the 2001 drug drama “Blow.” If Cruz’srole as Angelica, a seafaring siren who was once seduced and abandoned bySparrow, isn’t exactly a test of her talents, she does seem to enjoy having achance to spar and strike sparks with Depp once again. It’s also somewhatinteresting to see that screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio allowAngelica to engage in some rather brutal behavior without actually tossing herin with the story’s real villains. The rationale is that she’s trying to winfavor with Blackbeard (Ian McShane), the supremely sadistic commander of QueenAnne’s Revenge, a ship that’s kept in shape by a zombified crew of mutants.That’s not the only trick Blackbeard has up his shaggy sleeves: His wicked wayof wielding an enchanted cutlass gives new meaning to the term “sword andsorcery.”

Blackbeard, Angelica, Barbossa and, perhaps to a lesserdegree, Sparrow are determined to locate the Fountain of Youth that was oncethe obsession of Ponce de Leon. Finding the fountain, however, is not aschallenging as lining up the necessary items for the ritual that must beperformed in order for the waters to work their magic, which means that we getcomplications a-plenty before most of the cast congregates in a ruined jungletemple that might be located in a forgotten corner of Jurassic Park.

"Tides" threatens to break the two-and-a-half-hour mark, although even with so much time on its hands there still seem to be elements and ideas that got short shrift.  The causticcamaraderie of Sparrow and Angelica is delightful, but the story keeps themseparated for too long. The zombie sailors and the treacherous mermaids areexciting concepts that don’t seem fully developed. Similarly, when Barbossa andSparrow have to move carefully while plundering a grounded ship that’steetering precariously on the edge of a chasm, the scene comes to an abrupt endjust as it seems to be building up comic steam.

As for the extra jolt of romance that’s supposed to comefrom the forbidden love between a hunky man of faith (Sam Claflin) and animprisoned mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), this combination isn’t exactly aseffervescent as Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah in “Splash.” Director Rob Marshall ("Chicago," "Memoirs of a Geisha") can't give this "serious" subplot the necessary weight it would need to work; he's much more in his element supervising the elaborate action sequences -- particularly the rousing first encounter between Sparrow and Angelica. Aside from the 3D effects that are frequently obscured by murkiness and fuzziness, the movie is easy to watch (and whatever you do, stick around through the lengthy end credits for a genuinely amusing "stinger" involving one of the central characters.)

In the end, "Tides" is not unlike any randomly chosen episode of "Rhoda" or "Phyllis" or "Maude" or "The Jeffersons" or "Archie Bunker's Place": It has a few laughs, delivers more or less what you expect, and is likely to be long forgotten before the next one comes along.