Funny and touching but very flawed

Rating: 6/10 (10 June 2017)

This film has a lot of problems but it still managed to make me shed a couple of tears. Let's get the problems out of the way first. The script was a mess. Some scenes were pointless, such as when Jack spoke to that pirate in prison as he was being dragged to the gallows, others were rushed or had no satisfactory build-up, such as when Barbosa realized Carina was his daughter and they stuffed all the build-up, aside from Carina mentioning that her father left her the diary and ruby, into that one scene, and overall the writers didn't seem to know how to make the story flow properly. Also I didn't like Salazar and right from his first line "Death" I knew he wasn't going to be as good as past Pirates of the Caribbean villains. Despite being an important character in the story, he left very little impact on me.
Carina could have been a great character - witch, scientist, astronomer - but unfortunately Kaya Scodelario wasn't the right actress to bring her to life. She wasn't bad and some of her banter with Jack Sparrow was pretty entertaining, especially in the scene where they were about to be executed, but she didn't stand out much. I did like it when she told Salazar's crew to "piss off" though. Scodelario got the feisty part of Carina's character down well but aside from that, there wasn't much to her. Henry Turner was a pretty dull character as he was basically just Will Turner all over again, having very little to distinguish him from his father. Also I've noticed that Brenton Thwaites isn't good at creating chemistry with the actresses he works with. This was also a problem in Maleficent where he showed no chemistry with Elle Fanning.
Okay now let's get to the great stuff. Johnny Depp never disappoints as the eccentric Jack Sparrow and just like the past Pirates of the Caribbean movies, his comedic timing and delivery provided a lot of humour. However, I am going to have to bring up the sloppy writing again because Jack would never give up his compass. I did like learning how he got his name though. Also I liked the scene when he threw his sword to Hector Barbosa while they were clinging on to the anchor. That part told me that despite their very turbulent relationship, Jack considered Barbosa to be his friend in a strange kind of way.
As great as Johnny was however, it was Geoffrey Rush who stole the show in this movie, conveying facets of Barbosa's character that we never saw in the other films. For one thing, this is the first time I can remember Barbosa showing fear. When Salazar's ship crushed the English ship and Barbosa ordered his crew to prepare for battle, there was something in his voice that told me Barbosa was actually frightened at that point. I was also touched when he called Carina "Treasure" and upset when he sacrificed his life for her. Barbosa had finally found someone worth dying for and I was sad to see him go but it was a beautiful and touching swansong which made me shed a tear as Jack, Carina and the others mourned his passing.
They also brought back Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley but their roles in this movie were only cameos and Kiera didn't even get a line. However, I'm actually fine with that. Will and Elizabeth's story was all but finished in At Worlds End so all they really needed was their happily ever after and that's exactly what they got. I shed my second tear during their reunion before laughing at Jack's disgusted reaction as he watched them through his telescope. That one scene lives up to the "funny and touching" part of my title perfectly.
The movie as a whole isn't great, despite Geoffrey Rush's brilliant performance, but it had enough going for it to make it enjoyable. It was carried by Geoffrey, Johnny and a healthy dose of nostalgia and unlike other movies that rely on nostalgia (such as The Force Awakens) it didn't betray or tarnish the legacy of the previous movies. Despite it's flaws, this was a decent film.