Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
"Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me". Here we go, folks ... installment 5 of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise: Dead Men Tell No Tales. That's the best title yet, but is this "final installment" {we'll see} the best yet? Nah. But for me, it's probably the 2nd best out of 5.
'DMTNT' follows 2 young, intelligent treasure-seekers, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites, of last yr.'s Gods of Egypt) & Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who form an uneasy alliance with Capt. Jack Sparrow (good 'ole Johnny Depp) to look for the ONE thing that could help them make peace with the disappearance of their respective fathers -- Poseidon's magical Trident. Henry is the strapping son of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) & Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who's now the cursed captain of The Flying Dutchman which lies at the bottom of the sea ... and the Trident is the only thing that can break his father's curse.
Henry teams up with suspected witch/astronomer/horologist Carina, because her (missing) father's diary contains a celestial chart which holds the key to finding said Trident. After Carina, Henry & Jack (who has a broken pirate ship, flailing crew, & no $$) escape the clutches of the Royal Navy - who wants all three to hang {pirates, witches, ya know} - they also must dodge the decrepit, pirate-slaying Spanish ghost captain, Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem) & his menacing crew of ghost sailors who were condemned to die because of a young Sparrow (CGI-ed Depp). So Capt. Salazar enlists Sparrow's old nemesis Capt. Hector Barbossa (the always enjoyable Geoffrey Rush) to help track down Sparrow & the all-powerful Trident. Disney misadventures ensue.
I really didn't anticipate enjoying this film, at all. But while it has some obvious problems & missteps, enjoy it is exactly what I did -- well, mildly enjoy, at least. Nobody can say that the dialogue coming out of the characters' mouths is any good, but the story itself is not AS convoluted or overstuffed as prior entries. And Norwegian Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg keep the proceedings moving at a decent pace with good spirit & a lesser 129 minute running time. I also think it's a plus that Jack Sparrow is a bit of a supporting player, here; whereas Henry & Carina take the reins. Depp is the obvious draw, but his shtick was worn thinner from Pirate film to Pirate film & bursts of him play better than if he dominated the story.
There is naughty humor, exciting sea-faring action, a runaway bank, an uproarious guillotine execution, waterskiing with un-dead sharks {SO cool!}, a creepy sea witch (Golshifteh Farahani), an overlong-&-batsh*t crazy climax in Poseidon's realm, & a poignant character revelation near the end. As of late, blockbuster movies have become about mommy-daddy issues/family reunions/tragedies, etc. ... and this film is no different. Our fearless heroine seeks her father. Henry is desperate to rescue his. Jack even has an exchange with his uncle (Paul McCartney). And while the movie's conclusion didn't bring a tear to my eye, I found it touching.
As is usually the case, the entire production looks great. The sets are large, intricate & lovely to look at {those ships!!!}. Ditto the costumes. Hair & make-up is always a strong suit in this franchise. And the blending of cinematography with CGI is fairly seamless. About the CGI: though the special effects enables some sequences to exploit an irksome "Hey, we can do ANYTHING with CGI" vibe {I half expected swimming unicorns & enormous insects to grace the screen at some point ... just because}, I truly was stunned by the visuals during that nonsensical-if-propulsive climax under the sea.
As said earlier, I mildly enjoyed this. But it's also formulaic; most of ‘em have been. It also lacks coherence, at times. i.e., why is a sea witch in this film, at all? Performance-wise, everyone acquits themselves well. Though their romance is tepid, Brenton Thwaites & Kaya Scodelario are attractive, likeable actors. Depp hogs scenes, spouts obligatory one-liners & acts the buffoon lovingly; mileage will vary though on if you're over his shtick. As Barbossa, Geoffrey Rush is always a devilish delight. And Javier Bardem brings depth to our menacing, vengeful, frothing-at-the-mouth villain; his flowing locks, broken face & bloodied mouth cuts quite the horrifying visage. Again, 'DMTNT' isn't perfect. It regurgitates tropes & plot points from prior films. But these directors do a decent job cobbling everything together to provide an adequate, jovial, if also forgettable summer flick for the masses.
'DMTNT' follows 2 young, intelligent treasure-seekers, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites, of last yr.'s Gods of Egypt) & Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who form an uneasy alliance with Capt. Jack Sparrow (good 'ole Johnny Depp) to look for the ONE thing that could help them make peace with the disappearance of their respective fathers -- Poseidon's magical Trident. Henry is the strapping son of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) & Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who's now the cursed captain of The Flying Dutchman which lies at the bottom of the sea ... and the Trident is the only thing that can break his father's curse.
Henry teams up with suspected witch/astronomer/horologist Carina, because her (missing) father's diary contains a celestial chart which holds the key to finding said Trident. After Carina, Henry & Jack (who has a broken pirate ship, flailing crew, & no $$) escape the clutches of the Royal Navy - who wants all three to hang {pirates, witches, ya know} - they also must dodge the decrepit, pirate-slaying Spanish ghost captain, Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem) & his menacing crew of ghost sailors who were condemned to die because of a young Sparrow (CGI-ed Depp). So Capt. Salazar enlists Sparrow's old nemesis Capt. Hector Barbossa (the always enjoyable Geoffrey Rush) to help track down Sparrow & the all-powerful Trident. Disney misadventures ensue.
I really didn't anticipate enjoying this film, at all. But while it has some obvious problems & missteps, enjoy it is exactly what I did -- well, mildly enjoy, at least. Nobody can say that the dialogue coming out of the characters' mouths is any good, but the story itself is not AS convoluted or overstuffed as prior entries. And Norwegian Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg keep the proceedings moving at a decent pace with good spirit & a lesser 129 minute running time. I also think it's a plus that Jack Sparrow is a bit of a supporting player, here; whereas Henry & Carina take the reins. Depp is the obvious draw, but his shtick was worn thinner from Pirate film to Pirate film & bursts of him play better than if he dominated the story.
There is naughty humor, exciting sea-faring action, a runaway bank, an uproarious guillotine execution, waterskiing with un-dead sharks {SO cool!}, a creepy sea witch (Golshifteh Farahani), an overlong-&-batsh*t crazy climax in Poseidon's realm, & a poignant character revelation near the end. As of late, blockbuster movies have become about mommy-daddy issues/family reunions/tragedies, etc. ... and this film is no different. Our fearless heroine seeks her father. Henry is desperate to rescue his. Jack even has an exchange with his uncle (Paul McCartney). And while the movie's conclusion didn't bring a tear to my eye, I found it touching.
As is usually the case, the entire production looks great. The sets are large, intricate & lovely to look at {those ships!!!}. Ditto the costumes. Hair & make-up is always a strong suit in this franchise. And the blending of cinematography with CGI is fairly seamless. About the CGI: though the special effects enables some sequences to exploit an irksome "Hey, we can do ANYTHING with CGI" vibe {I half expected swimming unicorns & enormous insects to grace the screen at some point ... just because}, I truly was stunned by the visuals during that nonsensical-if-propulsive climax under the sea.
As said earlier, I mildly enjoyed this. But it's also formulaic; most of ‘em have been. It also lacks coherence, at times. i.e., why is a sea witch in this film, at all? Performance-wise, everyone acquits themselves well. Though their romance is tepid, Brenton Thwaites & Kaya Scodelario are attractive, likeable actors. Depp hogs scenes, spouts obligatory one-liners & acts the buffoon lovingly; mileage will vary though on if you're over his shtick. As Barbossa, Geoffrey Rush is always a devilish delight. And Javier Bardem brings depth to our menacing, vengeful, frothing-at-the-mouth villain; his flowing locks, broken face & bloodied mouth cuts quite the horrifying visage. Again, 'DMTNT' isn't perfect. It regurgitates tropes & plot points from prior films. But these directors do a decent job cobbling everything together to provide an adequate, jovial, if also forgettable summer flick for the masses.