Disappointment, pure and simple disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2017)

As someone who was born in the year of 2000 the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are a big part of my childhood. Indeed, I have no idea about how many times I've watched the first three movies.
But this... really? They had a budget of 230 million dollars and couldn't even get a good script?
The movie lacks identity: is it comedy or drama? Not to say that you can't have both at the same time, but here it's not even at the same time. The beginning with Henry visiting Will promises drama, but then we cut to... Jack with a hangover in a bank vault with someone's wife? Don't get me wrong, this could have worked. But it just didn't.
The humor in this movie is cheap. At one point Carina (new Elizabeth) claims that she is a "Horologist". What ensues are comments about how "we've all got to make a living somehow" and "my mum was one too, although she wasn't as proud of it". I really don't know what they hoped would come out of that exchange.
The new characters are underdeveloped. All we know about Henry is that he wants to break Will's curse. All we know about Carina is that she's trying to finish her Father's work. And then there's the, surprise, surprise, forced romance between these two that I just didn't get.
The plot was exhaustingly predictable. Just the same old "time to find the all-powerful weapon which breaks all curses".
Now, this movie has a few redeeming qualities. It is visually stunning. They definitely took special effects to a different level in this one.
Javier Bardem, who plays Salazar, stood out from the rest with his acting. Unfortunately the character still felt flat, but his scenes were never boring. (On another note Johnny Depp was sadly no longer the Jack Sparrow we know and love.)
Oh, and whilst cheap the humor was at times funny. I did, indeed, laugh quite a lot.
I'm not saying that this movie is bad; maybe it's great in your opinion. I went with three other friends who all loved it. And I felt somewhat sentimental at times.
But at the end of the day I simply do not see myself watching this movie again.