Many moons ago, 14 years ago to be exact, a film based on a theme park ride seemed like an absurd prospect. Yet, here we are all these years later after 4 films and a few billion at the box office we arrive at the 5th, and quite possibly the last film in the series.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge (given the much better title across the pond of Dead Men Tell No Tales) see's the young Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) set out on a quest to find the trident of Poseidon in order to break the curse that keeps his father (Orlando Bloom) bound to ship The Flying Dutchman. To find it he requires the help of his fathers old friend Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Along the way they enlist the help of a spirited young woman and astronomer Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario). Meanwhile Captain Salazar and his band of ghost pirates are out for revenge against Jack who as a young man bound them to their ghostly torment in the devils triangle, in short, there's a lot going on in this film.
The original trilogy was helmed by the weird and wonderful Gore Verbinski, however overlong and bloated the films felt, Verbinski's set pieces always had a unique offbeat energy and feel to them. This latest outing sees Fast & Furious, but its only the final act that really begins to lose you in its ridiculousness.
the directing duo of Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg take the helm, and although it often feels Verbinski-lite there is still a lot of pleasure in their set pieces, particularly a hilarious visual joke featuring a guillotine. There is also a very impressive opening set piece which features the first attack from Salazar and his crew which is effectively gothic and a little creepy. There is a sense of the ridiculous in many parts, with set pieces featuring zombie sharks and pirates doing
The new young'uns in the cast are entirely forgettable, its not necessarily their fault as both actors have been better in better things, but their characters are a bit one note and poorly formed. Geoffrey Rush returns as Captain Barbosa, a character who always gets extra brownie points for actually sounding like a traditional Pirate. Many of Barbosa's character beats seem forced and a particular revelation towards the end is so monumentally rushed that it barely registers. Bardem is quite menacing as Salazar, but again his character is poorly drawn, his entire motivation is meant to be explained in one flashback but it isn't enough to sufficiently explain his rage, there's more there to his character we just never get a chance to see it.
And so it comes to Captain Jack Sparrow, a character who is now so intertwined with the actor playing him that its' hard to see where one ends and the other begins. One has to remember that Johnny Depp was Oscar nominated for his performance in the first film, and though there are those who hate the character its hard to disagree that its Captain Jack who has carried this film series, his idiosyncrasies and scene stealing are always watchable when the films have perhaps been less so. The problem that becomes apparent here is that the makers of this outing have completely forgot who Jack Sparrow is. In the original films, Captain Jack for all his bumbling and chaos was a very capable pirate who just happened to have a bit of a problem with drink, but there was also a certain menace and melancholy to him that made him so compelling. Salazar's Revenge gives us a Captain Jack with no nuance or subtlety, he is unquestionably and absolute fucking moron. The saddest part is that he's not funny either, the writing for Jack has become too bawdy and on the nose, Johnny Depp still is 100% Captain Jack Sparrow, but not the one you fell in love with 14 years ago.
Post credits sting aside this really needs to be the last outing for Captain Jack, each outing has seen the law of diminishing returns in full effect. This is going to make Disney money, but with so much creativity out there it would be nice to see them take a risk on something new like they did 14 years ago on a film about a theme park ride.
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