15. Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
After the bloated mess that was 2007's At Worlds End, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise returned to cinemas after jettisoning most of the original cast, and trilogy director Gore Verbinski. Despite narrowing the complex mythology that had bogged down the previous two movies, On Stranger Tides still suffers from an overly-complicated plot, with Johnny Depp's iconic Captain Jack Sparrow coming dangerously close to overstaying his welcome. Very loosely based on Tim Powers' novel of the same name, regular screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio once again over-write the script to within an inch of its life, and the movie features the multiple plot twists and double crosses that were used far too frequently in the last two entries in the franchise. Despite the efforts of newcomers Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane, along with the returning Geoffrey Rush (who has now inherited scene-stealing duties from Depp), On Stranger Tides is a tedious affair that features flat and uninspiring action scenes, with little of the excitement that made the first movie such a success. I actually fell asleep when I saw it in the theater, and had to catch it again on DVD. Nonetheless, the movie was a massive success when it was released. Despite having the lowest domestic gross of the entire franchise, On Stranger Tides took over $800m at the international box office and ended up with $1.045bn worldwide, in the process becoming the first franchise to have two movies cross the billion dollar mark. With Dead Men Tell No Tales slated for release in 2016, let's hope its more like The Curse of the Black Pearl than this one.