Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review

    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the 5th film in the dwindling Pirates' franchise that hasn't really had a good movie since the original "Curse of the Black Pearl" back in 2003. Yes, it has been 14 years since the original Pirates film hit theaters and garnered Johnny Depp an Oscar nomination for his portrayal as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. The story behind this new film is a rip-roaring adventure, that once again finds a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack feeling the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea-notably Jack. Jack's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) and Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites).

    After the not-so-good run of films 2-4 in this franchise I went into this movie not expecting much of anything, but thankfully came out surprised at how much I enjoyed it. While I can't go as far as to call this a great film, it definitely has put the Pirates' franchise back on the map with showing that they do still have a chance at making another great film in line with the first. The film has plenty of laughs throughout and even some jokes that catch you off-guard. Javier Bardem, as always, gives a great performance as the "villain" throughout the film and the CGI mixed with makeup work that was done on him and his crew was done well. The story behind the film was done well also, giving backstory to Jack and also bringing back characters from the first film in a way that makes sense and doesn't feel forced.

    The film of course is not perfect and has some of the same problems as films 2-4 in which Jack Sparrow becomes more of a caricature of himself and not the Captain we all loved in the first movie. The movie runs at 2 hours and 15 minutes and really could have been shortened to around 1 hour 45 cutting out some unnecessary filler moments but all-in-all the film is enjoyable throughout and with the visuals is something I would recommend being seen in the theaters. Make sure to stay after the credits for a scene that is pretty interesting for what could possibly be to come.

7/10