Would you believe that it has been almost 15 years since the original Pirates of the Caribbean film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, hit theaters in the summer of 2003? Back then, it seemed like a major gamble for Disney given that it was a film based off one of the company’s most iconic ‘dark rides’. However, to the surprise of many, it became one of the biggest hits of the year. It fared greatly with both critics and audiences and, thus, launched one of the biggest film franchises in recent years. It would see three sequels released from 2006 to 2011 and while all three of these films did not fare as well as the first did in terms of critical reception, they were still monster hits at the box-office, with films 2 and 4 both grossing over $1 billion worldwide. And now, 6 years after the release of On Stranger Tides, this long-running franchise is back with a new installment, complete with a fitting subtitle that pays homage to one of the classic lines of dialogue from the ride; Dead Men Tell No Tales. While many of the primary cast and crew members from the previous films are back again, not the least of which being Johnny Depp in the lead role of Captain Jack Sparrow, there are also plenty of new faces as well, including those behind the camera. The film is directed by the duo of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, a pair of Norwegian filmmakers who are best known for their 2012 historical drama Kon-Tiki, which earned them a nomination for Best Foreign Film at that year’s Academy Awards. And together, they manage to bring some new life into this iconic franchise. Sure, some of its perennial flaws are still apparent but, through it all, the fun spirit that the series has been known for is still there in spades.
During his youth, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) had a notable run-in with Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), a Spanish Naval Captain who hunted pirates all over the world. After taking command of the ship that he was on, Jack managed to evade Salazar, whose ship, the Silent Mary, was destroyed when it ventured into a perilous region known as the Devil’s Triangle. However, instead of this incident resulting in their deaths, Salazar and his crew were resurrected as ghostly pirates unable to step foot on land. Thus, years later, when he and his crew finally find themselves able to escape from the Devil’s Triangle, Salazar begins his quest for vengeance against the man who ruined his life. This forces Jack, who has recently been struggling to find a ship and maintain a loyal crew, to head off on an expedition to find the only thing that can possibly stop Salazar; the mystical relic known as the Trident of Poseidon, capable of lifting any curse that has befallen a sailor on the open seas. To do so, Jack ends up in an unlikely alliance with two young adventurers who are also looking for the Trident; an eager astronomer named Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who is the only one capable of deciphering the map that can lead them there, and Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), the son of Jack’s old friends Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) Turner who seeks to use the Trident to free his father from the curse that has forever bound him to be the captain of the Flying Dutchman after the events of At World’s End.
One of the best things that I can say about this film is that it seems like the filmmakers did manage to succeed, for the most part, in their attempts to harken back to the first Pirates of the Caribbean film in terms of its overall tone and, perhaps most importantly, not succumbing to some of the major issues that critics have had with the sequels. Now, admittedly, if one were to really focus in on this film’s writing, they may indeed find some of those same issues that many say plagued the sequels. Sometimes, it does feel like the film is trying to juggle a lot of main characters at once, to the point where some don’t get much to do in the overall plot. And, sometimes, there are some plotlines that either come straight out of nowhere or just straight up don’t go anywhere (sometimes both). But, despite all this, the film still manages to not feel as bloated as something like the almost three-hour behemoth that was At World’s End. This is the shortest film in the series to date at just 129 minutes long, and that is very much a good thing. Heck, to the film’s credit, there are even a few genuinely effective emotional moments in this amidst all the wacky hi-jinx. And just like every other film in the series, this film’s technical merits are perhaps its biggest strength. Yes, a lot of the action is more CG-based this time around compared to previous films but there are still plenty of exciting action set-pieces to be found in this film that are backed by solid visuals and a fantastic production design. Say what you will about these films in terms of their writing, but for a series that’s become rather infamous for its expensive budgets (the previous two films had budgets of over $300 million each; this, thankfully, is only $230 million), they sure don’t waste that money on the screen when it comes to the technical stuff.
Obviously, Johnny Depp’s had a rough run as of late, whether it’s due to his recent (and highly scandalous) divorce or the several box office flops that he’s been in as of late. However, back in the role that earned him an Oscar nomination back in 2003, he still manages to be one heck of an entertaining screen presence. Now, to be frank, at this point you’re either still a fan of Jack Sparrow or you find him to be super annoying. As for me, I’ll admit that I am still a fan of the character, who’s still just as delightfully kooky as ever but never to the point where it personally got too annoying to me. Geoffrey Rush is also great, once again, as Jack’s old friend/foe, Hector Barbossa, while even managing to get a few subtle moments thrown in amongst some of his more exaggerated ones. This is due to one crucial plot-point, which I can’t mention here because that’s spoiler territory, that works mainly because of his overall presence in this series. As for Javier Bardem, he brings the right amount of creepiness to the role of the film’s main villain, Captain Salazar. Admittedly, though, he doesn’t really factor into the plot as much as some of the franchise’s other villains, meaning that, unfortunately, he doesn’t get much of a chance to stand out. But, on the bright side, the new protagonists in this film are welcome additions to the cast. Kaya Scodelario brings a great feistiness to the role of Carina while Brenton Thwaites gets to work with the solid emotional arc that is Henry trying to save his father, even though the film technically doesn’t focus on that plotline too much. And on that note, for those who are eager about the return of Will and Elizabeth Turner after a whole decade… you may want to temper your expectations because they really don’t factor into the plot that much. Orlando Bloom’s only in the film for three minutes or so and Keira Knightley isn’t given any lines in her brief cameo. They don’t even have a scene with Jack Sparrow, which I felt was rather disappointing.
All in all, I really enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. While I don’t think that it’s the best entry in the series (i.e. not as good as the first three installments), I do think that, at the very least, it’s an improvement over its predecessor, On Stranger Tides. I mean, to be perfectly blunt, this film probably isn’t going to win over all of those who lost interest in the franchise due to its polarizing sequels. At the end of the day, this film does still share some of the narrative hiccups that its predecessors had, like the occasional over-complication of the plot. Still, I cannot deny how entertaining the film still managed to be, which has really been the case of all the Pirates films even with their various flaws in mind. From a visual perspective, this film is just as well-made as its predecessors and, overall, I’d say that it did its job of attempting to return to the simpler affairs of the original Pirates film. Now, last time, during my Pirates of the Caribbean retrospective, I noted that this film’s primary trailer implied that it was going to be the ‘Final Adventure’; in other words, the last installment of this series that’s been around for nearly 2 decades. However, co-director Joachim Rønning suggested that this wouldn’t be the case and… yeah, the film does end on a post-credits scene that is intent on setting up a future installment. Thus, it looks like we’ll probably be getting another installment of this series sometime in the future, and if there is another Pirates film on the way, then you can bet that I’ll be there when it comes out. Because even though the overall hype for this franchise may not be what it used to be back when the original trilogy was released, I’d argue that these are still very much a series of ‘event films’ that are worth seeing in the theater.
Rating: 4/5
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