"Are all pirates this stupid?"

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2018)

By this time in the series, it's the special effects that have the most resonance for this viewer, as the story is largely a retread of prior action on the high seas. My summary line by the way, is not a comment about the picture but was actually spoken by one of the principals, though I've already forgotten who it was. It didn't seem to me like Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) did any of the heavy lifting in this movie, the focus seemed to be on his nemesis Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and his love interest Carina Smith (Kaya Scodelario). There were a few interesting concepts in the story, I liked for example the idea of robbing the bank actually involved robbing the entire bank. And 'the map no man can read' was a clever way to utilize the character of Carina Smyth, later revealed to be the long lost daughter of Barbossa. Watching the 'Pirates' series out of sequence, I don't now how much I might have missed in the way of continuity, but seeing Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reprise their former characters for a heartfelt finale was also noteworthy. But in the end the story for me was largely forgettable, as it had to do with a lot of back and forth maneuvering between Barbossa's crew, the villain Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), and the British naval crew led by Commander Scarfield (David Wenham). When I find my attention wandering, it's a sign to me that the picture could have done a better job of putting together an intriguing story. Maybe if they go for number six, they'll come up with something better.