Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

I had mixed feelings after watching the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. On one hand it is one of the best ones in the series but on the other hand there are not as many jokes and funny scenes and mainly there is a completely useless storyline with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley who are there probably just so we never forget about them. But in the end, I think the fifth movie of the series is better than third and fourth ones. The story is still immensely powerful. Javier Bardem and Geoffrey Rush gave a brilliant performance. Johnny Depp on the other hand yet again overacted, but he probably won’t get better. The gang of youngsters are rather unimportant to the story, but they are at least bearable. If you like the series, don’t hesitate to watch this film. There are a few brilliant unforgettable scenes. For example, the one with a guillotine, that must be everybody’s favorite. Overall, I must admit that I am happy the quality of Pirates of Caribbean is better than before. The film is not perfect, but fans will gladly forgive that. (06/06/2017)

It's better than the previous film, but not by much. The gratifying difference is mainly that this time the creators really tried to come up with interesting and unique ideas, but unfortunately, they forgot about the story. They almost completely forgot about it. On the one hand, there is a great guillotine scene in the fifth Pirates, which feels like it came from Gore Verbinski's mind, a fine finale on an anchor and a few irresistible black-humor scenes (being elected captain, for example). On the other hand, there is also a lot of overly simple humor (tacky double-meanings as if from contemporary domestic comedies), which is unnecessarily predictable (you always know that a joke is coming), a couple of all-too-surprising twists for which I would most like to stretch someone on the rack, and for most of the film, Jack Sparrow's “humor" is supposed to consist of him being drunk like a dog, and therefore he behaves even stranger than normally. I liked Javier Bardem's villain, the central couple not so much... Geoffrey Rush didn't get much space, but he did his best. The music was desperately inconspicuous. (05/26/2017)

A show which I never realized how much I was missing until I got it. Compared to previous sequels, there is a minimum of excessive inserts or unimportant characters, no side plots that slow down the fun, and definitely no psychedelic moments that don't fit well as part of the saga. Revenge takes the best from the previous installments, so the series once again becomes a benchmark for adventure, and possibly closes something that started fourteen long years ago. Jeff Nathanson rightfully bets his screenplay on the fates of old acquaintances, because he knows well that it is they who made Pirates of the Caribbean a beloved story. If the Pearl never sails again, a huge thanks for all the fish. If a sixth voyage is still in the works, I can't wait. (06/16/2017)

The production design and the effects are great, as only Bruckheimer's bottomless wallet can do, but the fifth encounter with Jack Sparrow is like meeting a drunk who tells you funny stories and you don't want to listen to him anymore because he's annoying. He just drunkenly drones on and on and on and you get tired of it :o) (09/29/2017)

I wasn't expecting anything, I got a very nice show, although it may not look like it at first. For the first forty-five minutes, the film tries to recycle Jack Sparrow and his jokes, which unfortunately doesn't really work. The character doesn't really surprise with much of anything anymore, and the new faces don't seem very interesting at first. But then he sails out to sea and directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg seem to have decided to put all the hijinks behind them and push for a much more adventurous atmosphere. And they succeed. The huge budget shows and Salazar's Revenge is a big film that paces incredibly well. At the same time, the emotions work within the adventure genre and Kaya Scodelario is very fine as the new female lead. Which is also nice considering newcomer Brenton Thwaites doesn't impress much and even Javier Bardem deserves a slightly more interesting role. Of course, for all the adventurous goofiness and pacing, you'll probably address these shortcomings after the film; there really won't be time for that during the film. A proper Bruckheimer blockbuster and the best film of the franchise after the first one. (05/24/2017)