Sunday, June 4, 2017

Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Shouldn't Talk

The Disney Pirates saga has been something of a sore spot for me over the last few years. Don't get me wrong about the quality. With the likes of Gore Verbinski directing, the first three movies managed to be both funny (because of Jack Sparrow being pure id) and massively entertaining (think every sword fight in the first three movies) even when the quality occasionally dipped into the absurd. Then, when previously mentioned trilogy had run its course so the series could fade away gracefully, the powers that be (see also: morons) decided it would be a good idea to make a fourth movie and basically destroy what made the originals so endearing by giving us an underused villain (Blackbeard) and the unforgivable mistake of making Jack Sparrow the main character (he's the comic relief; leave him alone). Note to Disney on the concept of Pirates 5: can't you leave well enough alone?
Before I tear into this movie for once again wasting two hours plus of my life for the honor of seeing Johnny Depp basically play himself for the twentieth time this decade, let it be known that, contrary to this series' connection to massive dips in quality, there are still a few gems to find if you're willing to search hard enough. Javier Bardem's Salazar at least looks cool and backs up his neat effects with something that tries to resemble a sympathetic backstory (he was a pirate hunter who was cursed through trickery). And, while I'm sure no one will give her credit for it because that's been how her career has treated her, Kaya Scodelario was at least a little interesting before becoming just another damsel in distress who spouts exposition a la Keira Knightley. If anything, it was nice to see the powers that be rectify the biggest mistake of part 4 by pushing Jack (Depp) back into the background so he can do all the fun stuff while the adults are busy talking. Its like seeing the original trilogy but dumber.
Unfortunately, the movie never seems to have the urge to escape its past. Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley are here to cash a paycheck., Geoffrey Rush makes it three movies in a row with very little to do outside of play a stereotypical pirate and the script seems to crib from the earlier movies just to follow suite so they don't have to try anything new. Is there another pirate curse? Check. Is the only way to solve the problem by finding a needlessly complicated path to a dumbly named mystical item? Check. Is there a boat full of zombie pirates bent on revenge aimed specifically at Jack Sparrow that will probably cause more problems for the searching crew than if they'd just left the guy at a port and continued on? Check and check. The movie that harkens back to the pretty okay original trilogy is here, but its bogged down by needless franchise tropes that ultimately kill the whole experience.
Reasons for watching it come down to your opinion of Pirates 4. Did you feel the well was dry for that particular waste of time and the whole thing was just sucking the last fumes of creativity for the sake pushing the series just a tiny bit further? This will probably give you some pleasant flashbacks to the simpler times when the series still had a reason to exist. Have you said aloud what this movie series truly is (a five-movie series based on a ten minute theme park ride that has earned a cumulative $2 billion)? Chances are its not worth your time or money. Choose wisely.
Joachim Rѳnning and Espen Sandberg (Marco Polo) try to see if they can go from terrible Netflix originals to passable movies with little success with Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales, a loud, sometimes obnoxious flashback episode that laments what the Pirates franchise used to be (i.e. a moneymaker with somewhat talented writing). To free Will Turner from his curse from part 3, his son Henry (Brenton Thwaites) attempts to find the fabled Poseidon's Trident with the help of Horologist Carina Smyth (Scodelario) because she's hot and Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) because...he's drunk, maybe? Along the way, the British Empire will act like tools and zombie pirate Salazar (Bardem) will lead a crew of well-animated other zombie pirates on the exact same quest because, apparently, no one has anything better to do that week. 4 was worse (I think that's a compliment).
My score: 4/10. Keira Knightley appears at the end, says no dialogue and was paid for roughly forty seconds of screen time. I want her job...

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