"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"- The best in the series since the original. Big, loud, silly dumb-fun at its finest!

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2017)

I came out of the theater from seeing "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales", the fifth chapter in the pirating adventure series, with a bit of confusion and bewilderment. Because I've been following the critics and the fans and the general audience reception, and have seen how decidedly mixed people feel towards the film. Some love it. Some hate it. And many more come out somewhere in between. What confuses me is the simple fact that, as a fan... I thought this was easily the best entry in the series since the original, and see it as a grand new installment that reinvigorated my interest in the franchise after the somewhat lackluster fourth film. Sure, it does have its moments of nonsense and a few leaps in logic here and there, but I left the movie wanting more, which is perhaps the best feeling you can leave one of these films with. I had a non-stop blast with "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and I didn't want it to end.
Young Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) has spent his entire life on a mission- to try and discover a way to break the curse that binds his father William (Orlando Bloom) to the Flying Dutchman for all eternity. And he may have just found a way- the legendary Trident of Poseidon. Whomever wields this ancient weapon will have control over all the ocean and every ships that sails it. However, there's a catch- Henry will need to seek the help of the daring young scientist Carina (Kaya Scodelario) and his father's former adversary/ally Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to get the help he needs to free his father. At the same time, Jack finds himself being pursued by a vicious ghost-ship lead by the dreaded Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), whom holds Jack responsible for the vile curse that have kept he and his crew imprisoned somewhere in between life and death for decades. And so, our heroes must try and race to get to the trident first (eventually joined by Barbossa, once again played by the delightful Geoffrey Rush) before Salazar can have his revenge...
Directed by the Norwegian duo of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from a script by Jeff Nathanson, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" is a good example of classic "dumb-fun" done right. It never takes itself completely serious, and is simply here to entertain us with another story of adventure. It's filled to burst with oft-clever action, non-stop gags and consistently thrilling visual effects set-pieces while only occasionally slowing down to throw some story or minor character- development our way. In some ways, I feel this follow-up has rectified one of the major faults of the past few entries in the series- it never goes too dark, and it never outstays its welcome with needlessly convoluted storytelling. This is a fast, concise bit of entertainment. Rønning and Sandberg are cool and confident with their slick visuals and sometimes jaw-dropping action, and they cement themselves as a good fit for the material by the time the first major action set-piece is finished. Sometimes I did miss the weirdly gritty aesthetic of original director Gore Verbinski, but I think the new creative team does an admirable job at continuing the franchise without simply just repeating what came before with less gusto... Which is a major issue that I felt dragged down the previous installment, "On Stranger Tides."
The cast is great fun as always. While Johnny Depp could play Sparrow in his sleep by now, it's always a pleasure seeing him on the big-screen and he's charming as always. He's a bit more broad this time around, but I didn't mind it. Rush and Bardem are great foils to Jack, with Rush once again often stealing scenes and Bardem being just a delightfully disgusting baddie that you'll love to hate. It was also fun seeing Orlando Bloom back, even if his role is fairly small. Will turner is a key character in the franchise, so it's good seeing this film honoring the series. Where the cast starts to shake a bit is with newcomers Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario. Don't get me wrong. They're both likable and charming. And they play well enough off of one-another. I think the problem is the script, which is clearly trying a bit too hard to make them the new surrogate replacements for the original characters Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. Thwaites does well playing the child of those two, but comes off too often as a slightly tamed-down William. Scodelario fares much better as a feisty woman of science, but again... she's a bit too similar to Elizabeth to stand on her own. Though I like the characters just enough that I wouldn't be opposed to seeing more of them.
This isn't a film without flaws by any means, however. While I appreciated the quicker pace and simplified storyline, the film can sometimes rocket through key moments or leave minor characters in the dust, which is a shame considering there's a larger ensemble cast. Some of the action can be a bit far-fetched even by "Pirates" standards. And I felt the climax almost felt like it came out of nowhere. But those issues cannot detract from the sheer fun I had with the film. And I really can't wrap my head around the mixed reception. It's a tight, fun film with non-stop thrills and a fair share of laughs and giggles. Just like the original that people love so much. And it stars several characters we've come to love to boot! That's what I wanted. And that's what I got. It's not a perfect film. But I found it to be a charming and more-than-adequate return for the franchise that left me satisfied and even craving more. What more could you want?
As a fan of this series, I give "Dead Men Tell No Tales" a very good 8 out of 10.