Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review
By Koushik Paul
Edited by Carl Cottingham
The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film is like a highlight reel of its predecessors. It shows all the good parts and a few of the bad ones as well. Starting out, the movie follow Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he searches for the Trident of Poseidon in the hopes that it will save him from Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). The treasure acts as a McGuffin, but in the best way.
Older Pirates films have had a nasty habit of putting so much lore and backstory into a McGuffin that the plot around it suffers. Here, it moves the plot along swiftly as we all know why each character in the story wants to get it. The pacing suffers a bit as the film tries to remind us why so many people like Pirates of the Caribbean at all. Prison break scenes, ship fights, back stabs are thrown throughout the film, but not always at the best times. As a result, the film lags in certain places, but thankfully for not too long.
The cast in general is great, with Geoffry Rush reclaiming his role as Captain Barbossa. There is still chemistry between his character and Depp’s Sparrow. Bardem is a fine villain, with his accent perfectly used when playing a Spaniard captain. The new cast members, Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario were blatantly added to remind us how much we loved the romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan in the older films. However, they just ends up reminding us how much we miss the old two characters instead. The two give it their best shot, and their attempt is admirable given how little screen time is given to their romance.
Overall, this movie tries to show off the highlights of the series, which it succeeds in some scenes. This movie is still very entertaining, but compared to how well other franchises are handling sequels, this movie falls a bit short.
6.5/10
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