"It's a pirate's life for me, savvy?" - Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides

Before I get into the meat of the movie I should state outright that I love Johnny Depp and any evaluation of his performance will be skewed by my opinion of him. That said, his performance is definitely deserve of praise. He has taken a much-loved franchise character and given him new life by adding depth to the character. Depp made a conscious effort to do this, as evidenced by his involvement in the film beginning at the pre-production stages. It's wonderful to see an actor who takes enough pride in their work to make sure that their franchise did not continue in the unfortunate downhill spiral of the second and third.