Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
★★½ — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
The fifth entry in Disney's long-running Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales arrived in 2017 under the direction of Norwegian duo Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, whose previous feature Kon-Tiki (2012) earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. That modest, adventure-minded pedigree made them a reasonable fit for the material, though the scale here is considerably larger, with a budget of $230 million and the full weight of Jerry Bruckheimer's production machine behind it. The film marks the return of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow after a six-year absence from the series (the fourth instalment, On Stranger Tides, having come out in 2011), and brings in Javier Bardem fresh from his Oscar-winning run as one of Hollywood's most reliable screen villains.
By the time we reach Dead Men Tell No Tales, the Pirates franchise feels like it’s running on fumes, and this fifth instalment does little to reignite the spark. Javier Bardem steps in as Captain Salazar, a ghostly Spanish pirate cursed to the afterlife and hellbent on revenge against Jack Sparrow. He’s a strong presence (intense, menacing, and genuinely chilling at times) but even his cold fury can’t save a film that’s overly familiar, narratively bloated, and missing the chaotic charm of the early entries. Jack is back to his old tricks, but now he’s less roguish genius and more tired caricature, slurring, swaying, repeating the same shtick without the wit or surprise. The new leads, Brenton Thwaites as the square-jawed Henry and Kaya Scodelario as the astronomer Carina, are likeable enough, and their star-crossed quest to break a curse feels like a throwback to the original’s spirit. But the chemistry between them is flat, the romance predictable. The action has moments and the final showdown has some fun visual tricks but too much of it is drowned in CGI, with ghosts flickering in and out of existence like budget special effects. The humour falls flat, the stakes never feel real, and the whole thing drags in the middle. Compared to the swashbuckling madness of Dead Man’s Chest or even the chaotic fun of On Stranger Tides, this one feels like a limp farewell. It’s not a disaster. Bardem elevates every scene he’s in, and there are flashes of the old magic. But as the supposed conclusion to a once-thriving series? It’s underwhelming.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2017 | Watched: 2025-08-23
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
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