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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Largely, cleverly, a remix of 2003’s debut outing, “The Curse of The Black Pearl”, all the ingredients are here for a rollicking good time. I thought that would be another reason why I wouldn’t like it, since it didn’t look related to the last movie’s new cast.

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Without a doubt, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most successful movie franchises out there, and a lot of it is thanks to Johnny Depp’s enigmatic performance as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is now in theaters. The Lord of the Rings actor said “When it comes to superhero movies, I would love to do the right kind that would be fantastic”. It was an entertaining family film if a little over long at 142 minutes and I felt it had one action sequence too many towards the end. A very convenient link to Jack’s magical compass allows Salazar and his crew to escape the triangle, with only one seemingly collective objective, to kill Jack Sparrow (and not to visit their friends and families, who may or may not have been anxious sick).

The story writers – Jeff Nathanson and Terry Rossio – have not only overstuffed the script, they’ve dumbed everything down (they think “horology” is a hysterically dirty word) and there’s hardly a quiet moment in the entire two-hour movie.

If you have watched any of the previous four films this one won’t surprise you – we still have incredible special effects, big action scenes, familiar characters and a quest.

Of course, this would not be a Pirates of the Caribbean movie without everyone’s favorite character: Captain Jack Sparrow tagging along. The relationship between Henry and Carina is reminiscent of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, a plot involving a race for treasure is nearly a genre mandatory, and even the film being too long should be no surprise. “So what we are doing is just helping the process”. Not only do both return in the latest film, but their child – Henry Turner – features at the cow-eyed lead of the piece. However, I always feel that the hat completes everything.

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The franchise was a surprisingly great idea that was sunk by increasingly misguided sequels that focused on the wrong aspects of the series. All of them are set against yet another undead sea captain and his cursed supernatural crew-this time, sadistic Spanish sailor Salazar (Javier Bardem, suitably nasty).

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales