One for die hard fans alone.

Rating: 4/10 (17 June 2017)

One of the highly anticipated releases of the year has fallen flat on its face. It tries to be a fan-service, but rather than feeling like a satisfying ending, it rather feels like a rehash of a tired old formula. A lot of its plot elements have been borrowed by previous entries in the franchise. The two mismatched lovers going on an adventure with the drunkard pirate. The story starts with a boy searching for the ship of his father (the flying Dutchman), he encounters his father (Orlanda Bloom reprises his role as Will Turner) and is instructed to return home. Fast forward a few years and the boy has grown into Brenton Thwaites. Henry Turner, son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan, is an uninspiring bore of a character and is portrayed more wooden than the black pearl's floorboards and gives Sofia Coppolla a run for her money. The uninspired dullard somehow has studied all the fisherman's tales and addresses the captain directly, an evidently treacherous act. He lands on the Isalnd where an evidently bored Johnny Depp reprises his role as Captain Jack Sparrow. The character is not essential to the plot and serves as an irritation this time around. He robs a bank and sleeps with the governor's wife in true Jerry Bruckheimer style. An interesting chase ensues that leads our young Turner to cross paths with Jack Sparrow and a lady named Miss Smyth. Miss Smyth is a woman ahead of her time and is deemed to be a witch, the character is related to a another character of the series.
As luck would have it, the terrible threesome share most of the scenes. Geoffrey Rush returns as Captain Barbossa and gives an excellent performance equalled only by the brilliant Javier Bardem. Bardem and Rush are the only reasons to watch this film and when the two share the screen it is magical. Bardem stars as a Spanish Captain that seeks revenge on Jack Sparrow.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot as there is still a reason to watch this film and those two are the reason. Orlando Bloom also gives a good performance for the two scenes that he has been given and Kiera Knightly does not speak any words. Despite this, they easily overshadow the two wooden and chemistry less couple that we have the misfortune of being introduced to. Another reason to watch this is for the few seconds that Sir Paul Mccartney does a scene stealing cameo.
All in all, the main characters are boring, lifeless and wooden. It is their co-stars that make the film worthwhile. I would have loved to have seen the film focus on Rush, Bardem and Mccartney.