Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

4/10

 

Starring

Starring

Johnny Depp

Javier Bardem

Brenton Thwaites

Kaya Scodelario

Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg

The fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales, isn’t as fun or great as it was supposed to be. Johnny Depp’s bankable appeal is dropping fast, and Disney should either jump ship or reduce the budget for future Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Dead Men Tell No Tales is another long chase that drags on until the end. The franchise is known for its lengthy chase scenes, mostly involving the eccentric Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Here, all the characters seem to be chasing the mythical Trident of Poseidon, which has the power to break any curse. As with most movies, we have to wait until the end to get a glimpse of this trident. But that’s not the main problem—it’s the up-and-down, less exciting ride that’s the issue.

My problem with the script is that if you manage to stay awake through the delays of Jack and Carina trying not to get killed, or Henry Turner (Will and Elizabeth’s son) trying to reach Jack while surviving numerous trials along the way, you’ll still feel underwhelmed.

Disney’s plan to make more Pirates of the Caribbean movies led to the return of old characters. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reprise their roles as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, respectively. However, both, especially Knightley, have little to do in the movie, with her only appearing in a cameo at the end.

Pirates of the Caribbean never runs short of new mythical characters. This time, we’re introduced to Captain Armando Salazar, a sea captain who was cleansing the seas of pirates when he got caught in a curse. This curse turned him and his crew into raging undead trapped in the Devil’s Triangle.

The movie’s story starts with Henry Turner meeting his cursed father at sea and promising to find a way to break the curse and free him. This quest leads him to Carina Smyth, an astronomer searching for the Trident using a book of stars to map her way to the treasure.

Jack, on the other hand, is going through a streak of bad luck, which lands him in jail and eventually crosses his path with Henry and Carina. Captain Barbossa hears about Captain Salazar, who has been freed from the Devil’s Triangle due to Jack’s string of bad decisions and is now coming after him. Barbossa, wanting to take down both Jack and Salazar to become the king of the seas, cooks up a web of plots involving betrayal.

This is a movie that feels like a total waste of time and should’ve been made with less financial investment.