Film Review: Pirate of the Caribbean 5 : Dead men tell no tales / Salazar's Revenge

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy 

Cert: 12A

Director: Joachim Rønning,  Espen Sandberg

Screenwriter: (screenplay) Jeff Nathanson,  (story by) Jeff Nathanson, Terry Rossio, (based on characters created by) Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally, Golshifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Stephen Graham, Angus Barnett,  Martin Klebba,  Adam Brown, Giles New,  Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley 

Running time: 2h 9min

Parents advised reading before viewing a film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: When Carina is preparing to swim in the sea taking off her dress to her body suit and she dives, Henry excitingly tells Jack "I saw her ankles".

Jack is seen without his pants just with his panties on him.

Violence & Gore: There are many epic action scenes.

Salazar is seen killing thousands of pirates violently.

There are many destruction scenes.

Salazar is seen in the movie slaying many English military men alongside his own crew.

Many intense fight scenes.

There are lots of action scenes containing mild violence.

Salazar and his men are seen invading to Barbossa's ship. It is intense.

A ghost-zombie shark is seen jumping above Jack's men.

A pirate is seen attacked violently by a ghost-zombie vulture.

Many of Salazar's victims are seen drowning in the sea.

Salazar is seen attempting to kill Jack.

Salazar is seen destroying an entire fleet of pirates
Profanity:  There are few uses of "shit", "hell" and "damn".

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Jack is seen drinking Rum. 

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  Captain Salazar is considered to be the most frightening villain in the entire film series. His intimidating look is very scary and chilling.

Salazar's men are scary to look.

There is a zombie shark jumping above Jack and his men. It is scary and intense.

The destruction, the action and the fight scenes are intense.

There are scenes where Salazar is slaying pirates and English military soldiers. Very intense to watch.

Story: Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea...including him. Captain Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artefact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas

Likes: I was a big fan of the franchise from the start. I think the fantasy and pirate themes work for this type of film, especially with the legends and mythology of the sea itself, which added to the magic.

I really wanted to like this film- the trailers looked good- but, sadly, the film wasn't what I was expecting. Yes, there are moments where it's pretty funny- usually because of Captain Jack Sparrow’s antics are pretty funny at the time.

Sadly, this film is missing that impact, which is a shame because the story is actually good. Salazar is the main villain- with a ghost crew- was a throwback to the original film and was exceptionally awesome. The only problem I can see is that this has already been done before, back in first on the film so it could affect its ratings at the box office.

The special effects are good, from the ghostly way Salazar (Javier Bardem) moves to the crew’s great sense of dread on the high seas.

The film opens on Henry Turner (Thwaites), Will Turner’s grown-up son, who is determined to free his dad from his cursed servitude as the ghost captain of “The Flying Dutchman”- like father like son, so to speak.

Henry's quest prompts him to seek the help of Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) as he hunts for the Trident of Poseidon, the magical MacGuffin that can undo the many nautical curses plaguing the high seas. Along the way, Henry's fate becomes entangled with that of astronomer extraordinaire Carina Smyth (the beautiful Scodelario), who is the key to deciphering the map that points the true way to the Trident. The movie revealed a big twist concerning Barbossa, which was a shock and came out of nowhere.

The ending credit implies that this won't be the last film in the franchise. The action is good, although this film is the shortest in the franchise, and it wasn’t a bad film, it lacked the impact the first couple of films had.  

As I’ve said, I tried to like this film, but it missed a lot of opportunities that could’ve made this film a great 5th instalment.

Dislikes: If I'm honest, this 5th instalment hit it’s peak and started to run dry on ideas because, judging by the way the story is, it felt slightly lazy- there was no passion put into the story.

It may be because of the ghosts; this, again, was done in Curse of The Black Pearl. Maybe the story felt flawed because it never explains what the Devil’s Triangle is and why these men were transformed into spirits, other than they saw a red, glowing light.

There are too many flaws in this film- it felt like lacklustre and didn't have the same impact as the other films. Sadly, this one feels like Disney is milking the franchise, so unless the next instalment can bring something fresh, I think this franchise is dead.

Question for those that have seen the film: Do you like this 5th instalment, or do you think this franchise has lost its steam?

Overall : Good film, good acting , just let down by the lack of story.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 for entertainment / 6.7 out of 10 for 5th installment