Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge (Dead Men Tell No Tales)

Rating: 4/10 (5 June 2017)

The Curse of the Black Pearl is the best one, Dead Man's Chest is good, At World's End is rubbish, and On Stranger Tides is reasonable, I didn't know what to make about a fifth entry in the popular Pirates series. Basically young man Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) has been seeking to find the mythical Trident of Poseidon, it has the ability to break all sea curses, since age 12 he has wanted to break the curse of the Flying Dutchman and free his father, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Henry now works on a British Royal Navy warship which is sailing into the Devil's Triangle. Sailing into the Triangle, the crew come across a shipwreck, this comes to life and undead sailors board the ship, the ghost crew are led by Captain Salazar (Razzie nominated Javier Bardem), they kill everyone aboard, but Henry is spared when Salazar sees he has a wanted poster for pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Razzie nominated Johnny Depp). In Saint Martin, young woman Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) is accused of witchcraft because of her knowledge of astronomy and horology, she is sentenced to death, she runs into Jack when he and his crew are attempting a bank robbery, they manage to evade the British Army, but the stolen safe is empty, Jack's crew abandons him for not delivering any loot. Carina next meets Henry, who is also sentenced to death for supposedly committing treachery, Carina tells Henry she knows a way to find the Trident, meanwhile Jack is down on his luck and wanting a drink, so he reluctantly trades his mystical compass, this causes the Devil's Triangle to crumble and allows Salazar and his crew to sail the seas freely. The British Army capture Jack and take him to the newly made guillotine for execution, while Carina faces death by hanging, with the help of Jack's crew, Henry helps them escape, they all set sail on Jack's ship, the Dying Gull. Carina reveals a map to take them to the Trident, to achieve their goals she decides to team up with Jack and Henry, Carina and Henry become closer as things go on. Salazar and his crew roam the seas and destroy many ships, including those in the fleet of Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Salazar and Barbossa make a deal that his crew will be spared for the capture of Jack. Salazar tells the story that he and his crew once sailed the seas to kill every pirate, they were undefeated, until young Jack Sparrow tricked them into sailing into the Devil's Triangle, there the crew died and were cursed to remain undead, Salazar seeks revenge, Jack handing over the mystical compass freed them from the Triangle and unleashed them onto the sea. When Salazar's crew find the Dying Gull, the crew remain on board to distract the ghost pirates, while Jack, Henry and Carina escape on a rowboat, Salazar and his crew chase them, they arrive upon a small island, they realise that the ghost pirates cannot step on land. Barbossa arrives at the island, he decides to help Jack, Barbossa breaks the Black Pearl out of the bottle is was placed, it returns to its original size, Barbossa has also recovered Jack's compass, he takes control of the ship and has Carina navigate them to the island. Both Jack and Barbossa come to realise that Carina is Barbossa's long lost daughter, Barbossa left her as a child with his diary at an orphanage to grow and have a better life, he never imagined he would see her again. A British Navy warship attacks, but this destroyed by Salazar's ship, Jack's crew battle the ghost pirate's men, during the fight they find an uncharted island that the Trident is located. Henry is captured by Salazar, Carina activates a path to the Trident, parting the sea water, the Trident is hidden on the ocean floor, Jack and Carina find it, but Henry is possessed by Salazr, to allow him to walk on land and seize the Trident, and he fights Jack. Salazar releases himself from Henry's body, Henry realises the only way to lift all curses upon the sea is to destroy the Trident, before Salazar can deliver a final blow Henry destroys the Trident, returning Salazar and his crew to the living. As the divided sea caves in, Barbossa helps Jack, Carisa and Henry as they are pulled up by the Black Pearl's anchor, Salazar grabs on and is still intent on killing Jack, while Carissa notices a tattoo on Barbossa's arm, matching an image on the cover of her father's diary, she realises their relation. Barbossa decides to sacrifice himself to save his daughter and the others, taking Salazar and his crew down with him, on the Black Pearl, Carisa declares her last name is not Smyth, but Barbossa, in the end Henry watch his father Will finally walk on land again, having been freed from the Flying Dutchman, Will is also finally reunited with Herny's mother Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), meanwhile Jack opens up his compass, he and his crew set sail to their next heading. After the credits, Will and Elzabeth are in bed together, a silhouette of Davy Jones enters the bedroom, Will wakes in terror and assumes this was a nightmare, but he does not notice there are barnacles on the floor. Also starring Kevin McNally as Gibbs, Stephen Graham as Scrum, Golshifteh Farahani as Shansa, David Wenham as Scarfield and Sir Paul McCartney as Uncle Jack. Depp remains just about enduring as his anti-hero pop icon inspired by Keith Richard, Bardem is reasonable being creepy as the villain, returning Rush gets to have an interesting subplot, and Thwaites and Scodelario do fine. The story is just like the others, a big pirate treasure hunt with lots of fight sequences, inventive set pieces and fantastic special effects, but it has many cliches, it feels a bit repetitive, there are a bit too many characters, and it can get almost boring, a slightly below average fantasy action adventure. It was nominated the Razzie for Worst Screen Combo for Depp & His Worn Out Drunk Routine. Okay!