It was only a matter of time until another film from the hugely successful Pirates of Caribbean franchise landed in theaters everywhere. Well, why not? Each of those movies made a billion dollars in box office receipts and film-goers from all over the globe love Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth installment, comes six years after On Stranger Tides, which was a huge global hit. Pirates of the Caribbean 5 will probably also make a lot of money at the box office, but is it a truly worthy addition to the franchise? The answer is no. it is not a bad watch if you tone down your expectations, but overall it is a disappointing experience and it should pose some serious question marks about the quality of those movies rather than just box office receipts.
The story is lazy as expected, it is about Captain Salazar (played by the legendary Javier Bardem) who wants to take revenge from the pirate who defeated him and left him for dead…you guessed right, Captain Jack Sparrow. The only way for Jack to defeat this undead menacing evil is to team up with Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) to find the Trident of Poseidon which will also free Henry’s father Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) from his curse. The story is not very original, but it is typical and expected. The problem is the plotting, or how the story is presented on screen. It is confusing and all over the place, it is like a collection of scattered thoughts on paper.
Javier Bardem is an incredible actor, but here his talents are wasted. His screen time is mainly looking scary and repeating the words “Jack Sparrow”. The same situation applies for Geoffrey Rush who is a great actor, but gets little chance to showcase his talents. Directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning (Kon-Tiki) show some good skill filming wide open sea scenes but they are not able to turn the huge CGI action set pieces into genuinely exciting moments. However, on the positive side you will get to see a good number of funny moments, Johnny Depp doing his thing as Captain Jack Sparrow, and some well done and entertaining scenes.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is watchable, but not a necessary addition to the franchise. Even though it is the shortest outing in the franchise, it somehow manages to be boring in parts. It is less than the sum of its parts due to a few decent scenes and many boring ones that will test your patience throughout the entire running time. It is safe to say that this installment is not going to add many new followers, but the main question: is it going to be able to keep the existing fan base interested in the next installment?
Rating: 5/10
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