A solid start to a closing chapter and a worthwhile entry in a failing franchise.

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2017)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (AKA Salazar's Revenge) is the fifth film in the titular franchise (and marketed as the final, but we all know it probably isn't) and is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, with a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson. It stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar, Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner, Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner (father of Henry Turner), as well as cameo appearances by Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Turner and Paul McCartney as Sparrow's uncle.
After At World's End, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was essentially put on life support. The plug was almost completely pulled considering former Pirates director Gore Verbinski envisioned At World's End as the final film in the trilogy. Then came the slightly improved On Stranger Tides, which is basically all that was. And now were here, with Dead Men Tell No Tales, the "supposed" final film in the franchise. It tells the tale of Captain Sparrow, who is being hunted down by a ghostly figure from his past, and through the franchise's signature character-interactive shenanigans and Macguffin-that-unites-the-characters-to-defeat-a-powerful-enemy kind of storytelling, Sparrow along with Henry Turner and Carina Smyth set out to find the Trident of Poseidon and defeat Captain Salazar.
Allow me to start off positive. This series has always been renowned for it's stunning visual effects and eye-catching CGI, and this film is no exception. One particular scene was the climactic battle at the end of the film, that saw the characters battle Salazar and his men on the seafloor, while the water formed two vertical waves around them. It looked amazing. While there was CGI, there wasn't too much. It genuinely felt like I could reach out and touch the water, or pick up the sand and throw it, or rip a piece of seaweed out of it's roots. There were numerous other scenes that blew me away, but this one takes the cake. This movie's look was not perfect, however. There were some scenes that overused CGI, and it stuck out as looking fake. Most of the bad CGI emanates from the fire sequences, and the people standing in front of/behind them while the background looks like something straight out of a video game with average graphics, did no doubt take me out of the moment.
Fortunately, this film is not totally style-over-substance. All of the actors involved bring their A-game, especially the always charismatic and effortless Johnny Depp as Jack Sparr- sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow. Newcomers Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario as Henry and Carina, respectively, both put on excellent performances while sharing great chemistry with one another. However, I still need to see more of them in these Pirates films before I can unapologetically call them the next Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. Everyone else is very good or great, and I found Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar particularly intimidating. Salazar also carried most of this movie's story, as without his involvement, the movie most likely would have been less enjoyable than it was. On a similar note, this movie's plot was even and well-executed, and the character's actions that lead from one obstacle to another felt more streamlined and comprehensible than say, At World's End.
I have to say that ultimately, Dead Men Tell No Tales was not a big letdown for me. It was nowhere near as great as the first film in the series, but it is slightly better than Dead Man's Chest, and far better than At World's End and On Stranger Tides. But just like every movie out there, Dead Men was not without it's flaws. The biggest disappointment of this whole film was it's predictability. Near the beginning of the film, Jack's crew walks out on him after some stuff that I won't spoil goes wrong, and you just know they're gonna come running back to him. One way or another, you know that even though they say they're finished, they will come back and assist Sparrow in his quest to find the Trident. That one scene alone made the movie less enjoyable for me, but there were one too many other scenes where you could easily plot out what's going to happen next. Another disappointment that this film possesses is the fizzled and drained humor. I can only recall two scenes where I laughed, and a few others where I chuckled. In some parts, the movie was trying too hard to be funny, and in others, the movie could have tried a lot harder to inject fresh humor into an exchange that borrowed most of the humor from the first film.
But other than those and a few other nagging flaws, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales did boast an engaging enough story to keep me mostly interested throughout the film's run time. Johnny Depp is better than ever as the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow, the visuals kept me on the edge of my seat with their breathtaking cinematography, and despite the humor mainly not working, I did relish in a couple of laughs. Does this entry reinvigorate the franchise and set it on a completely new course destined for riches and success? No. Is it entertaining and worth watching? Definitely. You'll probably like this movie if you loved the first film and shared some of my opinion on the later entries. All in all, Dead Men Tell No Tales was not great, but if it's the "beginning of the end" like the filmmakers say it is, it's a solid start to a closing chapter and a worthwhile entry in a failing franchise.
Rating - 6.9/10 stars