Movie / TVReviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

SPOILER-FREE!    – PG 13
Seriously, who else has been looking forward to watch Johnny Depp shine once again in his role as Captain Jack Sparrow? Despite the fact that the last pirate adventure was not quite satisfying…

One of the reasons back then in 2011 might have been that this sideline adventure did not include several dear old characters. Here in this movie the story of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) is continued, not so much by them but by their offspring Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) who manages to tie some loose ends. And perhaps this is the basis for a future sequel in this Disney universe, because some of the new characters (especially Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth) are definitely so interesting that you would like to know more, when the credits begin to roll…  Naturally Captain Hector Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush, is not to be missed – his scenes are always a pleasure to watch. Moreover, you get to see a bit of Captain Sparrow’s past – would that be perhaps another option for the franchise future?

A few words about the story:

Captain Jack Sparrow feels the winds of ill-fortune in pretty much all of his endeavours, and then even his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (played by Javier Barden) appears once again to hunt and kill all pirates. And he is especially obsessed with Jack, who requires the legendary Trident of Poseidon for an escape from this pickle. But in order to find this powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas, Jack needs the assistance of old and new allies…

The directors of this movie, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, indeed managed to breathe some fresh air into the franchise. One hilarious situation after the other, where Johnny Depp can play his antics without seeming “too much”. And there’s plenty of other gags and dialog lines to giggle about. The CGI effects support the story and do not seem like suffocating “overkill”, which (absurdly) caused the feeling of boredom while watching several of the previous movies.

Salazar as such cannot really live up to a character like Davy Jones, yet it is not the actor’s fault but the gaps in the backstory – he simply would have required more screen time.  The same for David Wenham, he could have done much more as evil Scarfield with a bit more room.

Clearly it is once again Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow who dominates the movie and he might be able to brush up his slightly damaged image with this movie.  Therefore I can recommend this movie to young and slightly older (who might appreciate a few of the gags and dialogues more than under-age audiences) -you’ll have a lot of fun, especially in 3D.

PS: Yes, this strange Cameo scene, it is indeed Paul McCartney …

  • 9.5/10
    Bewertung / rating - 9.5/10
9.5/10

Klaudia Weber

reckless and merciless dictator, so KNEEL! In other words, editor-in-chief, translator, website and ad admin, "Jane of all trades" - - - addicted to books (everything between Lord Of The Rings & quantum physics) and music, mainly Metal made in Finland. Furthermore, there's painting, drawing, movies, theater... so you can expect some variety on this website too. MA Master of Arts, English and American studies & Media communication = completed two full studies parallel within 5 years; very proud of my achievement - a bit later in life thanks to a scholarship - as a working class girl in a highlyconservative-romancatholic nation...

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