Something new, something old, but it still leaves me cold

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2017)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge/Dead Men Tell No Tales is fifth one in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and you can tell it. I went to see this movie a bit optimistic but also prepared for a disappointment. I gotta admit, this movie was good but it wasn't astounding. The movie as a whole is enjoyable and exciting, but something about it seems off. Bringing Orlando Bloom as Will Turner back to this film was a good idea but his presence in this film is lacking and not even in an exciting way. He's barely there. The new characters brought by Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites are a breath of fresh air and as individuals they work well. Nonetheless their roles are nothing they'll be remembered by. One of the greatest issues I have with this film is the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow. As a major Johnny Depp fan I was intrigued to see how well he performs Jack this time around. He wasn't tipsy in this film - he was drunk. That took something away from the old Jack I've used to see and replaced it with something I didn't find intriguing to see. He also had a few inferior lines that didn't appeal to me at all. Otherwise Jack Sparrow in this film was extremely hilarious and the Jack I grew up loving. But this time around he had more flaws than ever before. Something that I truly missed in this sequel were two things: Hans Zimmer's musical score and Gore Verbinski's prestige directing. Music wasn't as flamboyant as before and directing (even though worked well) didn't reach the level of fluency that Verbinski had in the first three films. So why did I give this new Pirates of the Caribbean 8 stars out of 10? I gotta admit, it's the nostalgia. This movie feels more connected to the previous ones than On Stranger Tides which was more like a spin-off from the Pirates universe. And also the ending is phenomenal. After the last scene you get out of theater thinking "It wasn't that bad at all. Actually it made sense and I liked it". Even though the nostalgia can't save every flaw in this film it does make the film better. Simply, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in good but not great.