I know this is going to be difficult to believe, but the last 'Pirates" film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" was released in 2011--6 years ago! That supposedly wrapped up the franchise, but Disney and Bruckheimer Films felt differently. So, 6 years later, we have "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales".
Hunted by the malevolent Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) and the rest of his ghostly crew who escape from the Devil's Triangle, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) sets out on a quest to find a mystical artifact known as the Trident of Poseidon which bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas, and gains two new allies along the way: a gorgeous astronomer, Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) and a young sailor, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) with a connection of Sparrow's past. Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) subsequently gets involved and ends up making a deal with Salazar: he'll produce Sparrow to Salazar and in return Salazar spares his life.
Others to round out the cast are Kevin McNally as Gibbs, Sparrow's first mate, Golshifteh Farahani as Shansa, David Denham as Scarfield, Stephen Graham as Scrum, Angus Barnett as Mullroy, Martin Klebba as Marty, Adam Brown as Cremble and Giles New as Murtogg.
This was whimsically directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg ("Bandidas" '06, "Max Manus: Man of War" '08, "Kon-Tiki" '12, "Doomsday" (TV movie) '17) plus shorts. When this franchise started in 2003 with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", Gore Verbinski directed it as he did with Parts 2, 3, and 4. Then in 2011, Rob Marshall took over the reigns with "Pirates: On Stranger Tides", and now that these two directors took over with this installment, its amazing that these very different filmmakers were able to give that similar feel in Part 5 and this installment as in Verbinski's first four installments of this franchise. This is a very important element to take into consideration so as to makes these installments flow together. If you like these filmmakers' work, Ronning's "Origin" and Sandberg's "Pirates 6" have been announced. This was executed well by writer Jeff Nathanson based on a story by Nathanson and Terry Rossio which is based on characters created by Ted Elliott, Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert. Interesting that the producers decided to hire a writer that did not write any other of the installments to this franchise, however if not, Jeff Nathanson was certainly a good choice. This writer has a ton of experience and this project shows it. Although having a couple of places of lack of continuity and a couple of very small slow places, this installment actually shocked me. I wasn't expecting a storyline as interesting and fun as this was. If you liked this writing, Nathanson will be co-writing "Pirates 6" which has been announced. And of course, the visual effects predominantly designed by MPC (Moving Picture Company) were absolutely stunning. They were a bit over used to emphasize the fantastical plot, but was still an aspect in making this fun.
Certainly if you're a Pirates fan, you'll be in Jack Sparrow heaven, and who doesn't like a great summer big-budget film that they can escape into, eat popcorn and just have fun in the multiplex.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 129mins.
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