Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

MegaSoulhero Dead Men Tell No Tales is the 5th film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise! Fun fact: I bought tickets to see it in IMAX 2D, but there were technical difficulties in the theater. So instead they showed it in 3D. That was kind of lucky. Anyway, the first Pirates film was great, the second one was good, the third one was kind of bad, and the fourth one was good. So what did I think of this one? Well let's talk about it.

The movie involves deadly ghost pirates, led by Jack Sparrow's nemesis Captain Salazar who wants to seek and destroy all pirates. Jack then comes across the son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, Henry Turner, and then they come across a female astronomer named Carina Smyth who is so smart to the point where people think she's a witch. Because, I don't know. It was a thing in that time period. They travel across the sea, along with Jack's crew from the previous films, to find the Trident of Poseidon. A weapon that allows the person who holds it to have control over the seas. Let me get to what I like about this movie. First of all, the action, as usual, is brilliant! There's a lot of great choreography and stunt work. There's a whole scene where Jack is jumping from cannon to cannon. Even though I know that's not possible, I still thought it looked really cool. I also thought Salazar was a surprisingly great villain. He has great motivations and looks like an actual threat. The other new characters are really great too. Henry Turner was probably my favorite. He actually does a lot of helpful things for the plot. There was a lot of great direction and the visuals looked stunning at times.

Here are my main problems with the film. It didn't feel very original. You'd think after 4 films, they would try to make the 5th one feel fresh and new. It pretty much uses the same formula as the previous installments. I just found that to be pretty distracting. Also, the humor was very unfunny! There were a few jokes that got a laugh out of me, but most of them felt very forced. Even the people in the theater I was in didn't laugh. And it was a pretty crowded theater. There's a running gag with Carina being called a witch and that got annoying really fast. It's come to the point where Jack Sparrow isn't much of a character anymore and more like someone who is just there for comic relief. They pretty much turned him into one big joke. And it didn't help that the movie seemed to focus on him a lot. The movie should've focused less on Jack and more on Henry and Carina so we could get to know them a little better. Speaking of Carina, I don't know if people like this actress or not, but in my opinion, she gave the worst performance out of any actress I've seen in a movie this year! She didn't even look like she was trying!

There are quite a few situations that I feel like the characters get out of too easily. One scene involves Jack being forced to marry some ugly woman and then Barbossa conveniently comes and stops the wedding. Also, Barbossa could've been cut out of the movie and nothing would've changed. In another scene, Jack's crew leaves him and then a few scenes later, the come back and rescue him because plot convenience. The CGI on Salazar looks cool but can also get a little distracting at times. And there is quite a lot of CGI in the film. However, there's one use of CGI that I thought was incredible! Young Jack Sparrow! It's become a common thing for movies to make actors look young by using visual effects. I think this one was the best one yet! It looked so real! In fact, that entire backstory about how Jack became a captain was very well done. I won't spoil anything, but it definitely tells us more about the character. By the way, if you're gonna watch the movie just to see Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, you will be very disappointed. They only appear in very small cameos. Elizabeth doesn't even have any lines.

Overall, Dead Men Tell No Tales was an okay movie. It's not bad, it's not great, it's just okay. There are some pretty awesome things about but also some pretty bad things. I was really hoping to like this movie more than I did but it's kind of a mess. If you hate the Pirates franchise, chances are you're not gonna like this movie. If you're a fan of the Pirates franchise like I am, chances are you might enjoy it. Definitely a better ocean based movie than Baywatch.

Score: 6/10

Comments

My review will be coming soon. One thing: "You'd think after 4 films, they would try to make the 5th one feel fresh and new. It pretty much uses the same formula as the previous installments". I'm not surprised that they didn't make this movie fresh because it's the fifth movie the series. I'm hoping it's the last one cause they've honestly run out of ideas. I hope you respond. - DCfnaf

The franchise should redeem itself or just stop. - visitor