Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review

Directors:  Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg

Release date: May 26, 2017 (USA)

Cast:  Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Barde, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales sees the return of Jack Sparrow and his jolly band of pirate misfits to the high seas (and the silver screen) for the fifth time. When the movie was first announced, I wasn’t so sure a fifth entry in the series was really necessary, and feared that it may taint one of my favorite ongoing movie sagas. So, the question becomes: did the fifth movie bring closure to a (mostly) grand series or is it just dead weight that needs to sink to the lowest depths of the ocean, never to be heard from again? For the most part, I am happy to say the movie wraps the series up in a nice bow, with the occasional misstep along the way.

Jack and his crew have chased everything from cursed pirate gold, a beating heart in a box, and the fountain of youth. But going into this film, I wasn’t actually sure what farcical mccguffin they would be going after. Soon into the film we learn that they will be searching for the lost trident of Poseidon. With this ancient artifact, any curse of the sea can be broken.

This is extremely convenient for our young hero Henry Turner, son of long-time series love interests Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. He is searching the high-seas for a way to rescue his father from his life-long servitude to the cursed shipped, The Flying Dutchman. Indubitably, he soon learns that the only man that can lead him to his destination is the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow.

Speaking of love interests – on his journey, Henry runs into Carina Smyth. Carina is an orphan and astronomer, using the stars and a book to guide her, as she is looking for her long-lost father. Their path’s quickly cross as they get mixed up with the wrong crowd. Soon, they have the choice of being arrested and killed or setting sail with Jack. I am sure you can guess which path they choose.

Obviously, no Pirates of the Caribbean movie is complete without a villainous, cursed pirate crew. This time, instead of zombies or crustacean-covered sea dogs, we have Javier Bardem’s evil Captain Salazar and his ghost crew. While in theory, this could have been a great opportunity, it goes mostly wasted. The Captain is after Jack for killing his crew, but it doesn’t go into much more detail beyond that. Also, the CGI for the crew looks dated. While I like the aesthetic they were going for, I wish they would have done more to bring the ghostly crew to life. They come off more as spectral canon fodder than a real threat, which is a shame.

Overall, the movie is really enjoyable if you are a fan of the series. The movie opens with a great introduction to the characters, new and old, setting up the adventure the viewer is about to partake in. Yet, the first place the film rubbed me the wrong way was the introduction to Jack. While I typically have enjoyed Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the graceless and bumbling Captain, here, something just didn’t feel right.

In the movies he’s always had a passion for rum, but this film takes it too far. For the first half of the film he was constantly drunk, to the point of annoyance and incoherence. I don’t know if this was because Depp is starting to lose passion for playing Jack, or if he just forgot how to fall back into the character after so many years; but watching the film, I almost felt like he was a man pretending to be Jack, instead of Jack himself. They use plot devices to show that he hit rock-bottom and has no other option, but it seemed to drag on a little too long. This problem is solved once the film really takes off, as he regains his confidence, but his original portrayal still sits with me long after I left the theater.

As far as big set pieces go, you won’t be disappointed. From the opening bank robbery scene, to Jack being saved from a guillotine (which may be my favorite scene of any Pirates film), to the final battle with Captain Salazar, Disney really knows how to make films larger-than-life. Even as just a popcorn flick, this movie was extremely enjoyable. If you are uninitiated with past Pirates of the Caribbean movies, you’ll still find the film entertaining, but if you are a long-time fan of the series, you will get a kick out of all the throw-backs and references to past films. One of the disappointing stand-outs, however, is a crucial death scene in the film for a long-time character. While I know they wanted it to hit audiences hard, it just fell flat and felt completely unearned, making it sadly unsatisfying.

If you are unsure of seeing this film, or not a fan of past movies, I would say wait to see this at home. But, if you do enjoy Captain Jack (and have already seen Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), definitely give this film a shot. It wraps up the saga nicely.