(From our Guest critic: The Movie Knight) The Spaniard Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) made a vow to rid the sea of all pirates. He almost succeeded in his mission until he ran into a young pirate named Jack Sparrow. The encounter left Salazar and his crew dead, but not gone. Their ghosts are back and they are hunting Jack. Meanwhile, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), the now grown son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), is looking for a way to break his father’s curse. All paths are leading to the ultimate treasure, the trident of Poseidon.
The first Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003 was a big, surprise hit. It had a lot of fun and introduced us to Johnny Depp’s most famous character. However, with each sequel, the movies have been in a steady decline. That changes with Dead Men Tell No Tales. Finally the fun is back. You will be treated to viewing some never before done action scenes in this swashbuckling story.
A number of factors helped to right this ship. Disney brought in a new pair of directors and a new writer. They also injected young blood into the franchise with Thwaites and also Kaya Scodelario, who is first introduced to the audience as a scientist, but since women were not allowed to pursue such a career at that time, is sentenced to die for being a witch. Both actors provide us fresh characters to root for, grow with and they deliver solid performances.
Disney is not well known for putting out quality 3D movies. Usually their post-production conversion are poorly executed; but, in this case, the adventure is worth paying the extra dollars to see it in that format. Johnny Depp is excellent as he reprises his role in what is the best sequel yet. If they end the series now, it will go out on a high note.
3 tiaras.