Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Once again, the notorious pirate, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), finds himself dealing with the supernatural. This time, he must contend with the cursed, vengeful Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). Sparrow joins astronomer Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) and British Navy sailor Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites). Together, they must find the Trident of Poseidon to break the curse of the sea.

Review:

Even with two directors at the helm, Dead Men Tell No Tales is a true sign of franchise fatigue. This is due to its hollow screenwriting, mixed visual effects, and tired humour.

Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow represents two of those factors. In this film, he’s a parody of the character that came before.

Take the action setpiece where Jack escapes from the British military with other pirates in tow.

This involves Jack balancing on a bank pulled by horses. For its positives, it’s a well-paced and shot sequence.

On the other hand, Depp’s Sparrow fumbles around, resembling a cartoon character. Though fans should expect this, it’s dialed up to a ridiculous degree here.

Rather than demonstrate wit or ingenuity, Jack Sparrow comes across as dim-witted.

In the film, he displays very little agency. This leads to him feeling less of a driving force and more of a secondary character.

Take him being led around by Henry Turner and Carina Smyth as an example. When Henry approaches Jack’s cell for help, Jack appears reluctant to help.

It also has him in a submissive state, being told what to do rather than taking it upon himself. Depp also leans into the humour far more than usual.

Whilst this may provide some funny moments, it’s an act that’s grown tired. Take the scene when Jack and Carina are about to be executed.

Rather than advance the scene forward in a meaningful direction, jokes are used as a crutch. Jack and Carina bicker back and forth, halting the scene’s momentum.

Whilst this leads to an energetic escape sequence, its humour limits the stakes. Though this sequence can be fun, there’s a moment that can take viewers out of it.

As Jack escapes from the guillotine contraption, the plank of wood remains stuck to his upper half. A Royal Marine then attempts to kill Jack by attacking him with a sword.

Rather than aim for his exposed head, the marine instead strikes the piece of wood. This again limits the scene’s stakes and believability.

Due to this, the story’s first half has difficulty building much momentum. It also depends on a flashback to give the film’s main antagonist, Captain Salazar, more of a backstory.

Whilst this does provide much-needed context, it’s a brief scene. It’s also one of the very few scenes where Javier Bardem’s character is given some personality.

Salazar’s main goal is to rid the sea of all pirates. This contempt is exemplified when he encounters a young Jack Sparrow.

As Jack goads Salazar, the Spaniard becomes more frustrated. This is an emotion that Bardem portrays well, despite it being brief.

Aside from this, Salazar gets very little development in other scenes.

For audiences who wanted to see more of Bardem’s acting talents, they’ll be disappointed in this film.

For much of the film’s runtime, Henry Turner and Carina Smyth are the main characters.

As Carina’s an astronomer, she acts as the main guiding force of the narrative.

Much of this is the actress Kaya Scodelario delivering clunky exposition.

Though this is important, the film doesn’t use her character for much more than that. Saying this, Kaya does give an energetic performance at times.

Henry Turner also has a main objective in this film. He seeks Poseidon’s trident to break his father, Will’s, curse.

Though the character has a good motive, actor Brenton Whaites’ performance lacks presence.

This may have been because of the film’s underdeveloped script more than anything else.

Giving the film more life is the return of Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa. Despite being given less to work with, Rush’s charisma remains intact.

He’s also given some brief development when it’s revealed that his daughter is Carina. Rather than leave her with the memory of a pirate father, Barbossa left her an orphan.

Though it works as development, the film doesn’t expand on this much besides one scene.

To leave even more of an impact, the scene could’ve explored Carina’s upbringing in a flashback.

Still, it’s serviceable material that Rush does well enough with. What the film doesn’t do as well is with its visuals.

Beyond a few vibrant locals, the film feels restrained in its approach to production. Take the use of Salazar’s crew as an example.

Whilst their undead forms are unique-looking, the overall detail presented appears soft. This is also apparent when Salazar releases undead sharks to attack Jack Sparrow.

Though they have a distinct look, they lack detail and weight in their movement. This makes the CGI even more distracting.

In the aforementioned flashback sequence with Salazar, there’s also a very distracting greenscreen background.

Rather than immerse viewers, it takes them out of the film. Where viewer immersion may also be impacted is with the film’s soundtrack.

Replacing Hans Zimmer for the music is American composer Geoff Zanelli.

Though Zanelli’s use of previous themes is welcome, some audiences may have hoped for more variety.

Saying that, it does provide some good background music for the action sequences.

This film’s action overall, despite the film’s $230 million budget, is lacking.

As a whole, the film’s directors, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, don’t take advantage of this.

Take the film’s lack of grand, epic-scale naval warfare as an example.

For a film that appears to be the last of Jack Sparrow’s adventures, it should have been more creative in this area.

Conclusion:

To conclude, Dead Men Tell No Tales is this franchise’s weakest entry. Its hollow narrative and tired humour can make for a frustrating watch.

Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack has reached the point of parody. It’s often cartoonish in this film. He also lacks agency in most scenes, impacting development.

Kaya Scodelario as Carina, despite being a tool for exposition, displays energy at times. Brenton Thwaites’ Henry Turner is given a decent motive, despite an underdeveloped script.

Javier Bardem has brief moments of development as Captain Salazar. Saying that, many of his scenes fail to push the character forward in meaningful ways.

Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa is more consistent, displaying the usual charisma. This is despite him having less to work with.

This film’s story also has a lack of momentum in the first half, impacting the proceedings.

Though it’s more creative later on, the overuse of greenscreen hampers the visuals. Its substantial budget is also never used to its full potential, leading to less creative action.

Some fans may also be disappointed in the lack of Hans Zimmer in this film. Though Geoff Zanelli’s use of familiar themes is welcome, he doesn’t innovate much beyond this.

Whilst Dead Men Tell No Tales offers glimpses of fun, it may be time for this ship to sail into the sunset.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 5.5/10

Story - 5/10

Action - 6/10

Visuals - 6/10

Soundtrack - 7/10

Overall score: 5.9 out of 10