Disney presents the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with its latest movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Once again, Johnny Depp reprises his role as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, the clever yet quirky pirate who always finds himself in the thick of adventure and peril. Sparrow, unintentionally humorous, is an unlikely leader who delivers classic one-liners.
I saw the first movie in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was released in 2003, but in the almost fourteen years that have passed, I somehow neglected to watch the next three movies in the series. My bad, I suppose. Despite missing out on the majority of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I was fairly confident I’d have little problem understanding what was happening in this latest film.
Along with my friend Ethan, who had seen all four Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I set out to discover whether this movie would be another Disney treasure or whether I would willingly volunteer to walk the plank.
The fifth installment was entertaining for sure, introducing some new characters, including Carina Smyth and Henry Turner. Carina, headstrong with a wealth of scientific knowledge, is able to outmaneuver those who accuse her of witchcraft. Henry, on the other hand, believes in curses that dwell in the depths of the sea. As they each try to find their way out of their own predicaments, they cross paths with Captain Jack Sparrow. The captain, who’s at a crossroads of his own as his crew loses faith in him, is drunk as always, but still manages to humorously worm his way out of almost any situation.
As Carina, Henry, and Captain Sparrow search for the ocean’s most coveted treasure, a ghost pirate named Captain Salazar is on a quest of his own to seek the ultimate revenge against Sparrow. The incomparable Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as Captain Barbossa, Sparrow’s nemesis, and his character is once again on the precipice of ruining Sparrow’s life.
The action sequences and graphics were entertaining for sure, but the new characters weren’t developed as much as I would have liked. It’s understandable that younger characters need to be introduced as a means of luring in new generations of viewers of the Pirates series, but it wasn’t done as successfully as when the Star Wars series brought in fresh faces. In Episode VII of Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Rey and Finn captivated audiences of all ages, but this wasn’t done nearly as successfully in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Ethan enjoyed the movie, saying he appreciated how this movie was a “walk down nostalgia lane.” He said, “There is a lot of build up, but many of the exciting scenes reminded me of the first film almost as if they were recycled.” He agreed that more could have been done to develop the new characters, saying that the characters “showed a lot of promise, but they fell flat.” He continued, “Overall, I thought there were some great special effects and several comedic moments.” I agreed, noting how several times the majority of the theater erupted in laughter as Captain Jack Sparrow muttered something amusing.
Since Ethan has now seen all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I asked him how this film compared to the first four. “The first one will still be the litmus test for all the other ones because it was such a novel idea, but this one was definitely better than number four,” he said. Ethan liked how the story “paved the way for follow-on chapters,” which are already planned. After the movie, we discussed how Johnny Depp was born to play the role of Captain Jack Sparrow, which he once again executed flawlessly.
The movie is rated PG-13, and while there are a lot of scenes involving death, I would have no issue taking my ten year old daughter to see it. Even though I had only seen the first film, I was able to follow along with the plot of the fifth installment with ease. If you’re looking for an entertaining film, this is definitely a good pick; just don’t expect it to be your favorite of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. In a nutshell, even though it wasn’t the best, it was arrrrrright! (Sorry! I couldn’t help myself.)
Movie times: click here
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Directors: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
Actors: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario
Running Time: 2 hours 9 minutes
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure violence, and some suggestive content
