Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been around
for quite some time now. While it is one of the few film series that was based
on a theme park ride, it has shown to be quite profitable nevertheless. Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) was a surprise hit, while
the next two sequels after it were more or less just guaranteed to come with
it. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) was about as entertaining
and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) tried to finish off with a
bang, but ended up making things overly complex. In an attempt to bring it down
a notch, Disney made Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). The
idea was to have a one-off story about Jack Sparrow and his adventures.
According to critics, that wasn't why so many people enjoyed the initial three,
thus it was the lowest earning sequel. Finally after a long wait, the mouse
house made this sequel, which in all honesty is a much more glorified return to
its roots.
Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar |
The story turns its focus to that of Henry Turner (Brenton
Thwaites), the son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) who now serves the Flying
Dutchman. Wanting to free his father from the curse, he sets out on the search
for Poseidon's trident. He who is able to break the trident breaks all of the
ocean's curses. While on his search, he meets Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario)
who is also looking for the trident and is a gifted astronomer. It is then at
that point, they cross paths with Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his crew led
by Gibbs (Kevin McNally). Following closely behind is the zombie Captain
Salazar (Javier Bardem) and his crew hoping to kill Sparrow for his untimely
demise. On top of that, Salazar hijacked Captain Barbossa's (Geoffrey Rush) ship
in order to find them. The separate plot threads may sound a bit all over the
place, but they all converge easily into one another unlike the stories presented
in prior films like Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). Plus the
script has great character connections.
Much of the original background crew members have changed
and surprisingly, it's almost like nothing was replaced. Penned by Jeff
Nathanson instead of Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot, the script stays faithful to
the earlier movies. The reintroduction of older and newer characters is handled
fairly well. Occasionally there is mistake like how a character played by
Golshifteh Farahani manages to get her hands on item that belonged to Jack
Sparrow. It's not explained. But overall the execution is clear on how the
story is told. Nathanson was also the writer to Rush Hour 2 (2001), Rush Hour 3
(2007), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Tower
Heist (2011). These may not be the greatest sequels in existence, but they
aren't the worst either. Directing duties were also delegated differently.
Instead of Rob Marshall or Gore Verbinski returning, Joachim Rønning and Espen
Sandberg took charge of the production. This was probably the biggest gamble
the studio had ever taken.
The reason for this being that Rønning and Sandberg had only
made one other American made film, that being Bandidas (2006). And that movie
was just okay, nothing that really stood out as a breakthrough film. They did
however direct two other films, but it was in their homeland of Norway so
there's a good chance no one outside of Norway knew about it. Here they did a
good job, which is great considering how little experience they have. One other
big issue that comes up from this story is how if the trident is broken, it
breaks all curses. For one thing, this could undo a lot of other things already
laid to rest in previous films. Also this can make the fantasy end of stories
harder to tell in future narratives. Oh well. The actors all have their moment
to shine though and it's all done in a way that doesn't feel forced. Johnny
Depp's return as Jack Sparrow is always welcome as well as the rest of the
original cast members from previous movies. Even the new actors like Thwaites,
Socdelario and Bardem do a great job.
"Amazing we got to no. 5 right?" |
The action is also well done. The scale at which these
sequences are set aren't as big in scope but this is okay. There are still
plenty of visual spectacles to behold. The designs of Captain Salazar are
unique in look and the same could be said for their pet sharks. Helping make
these scenes look presentable was cinematographer Paul Cameron. Unfortunately
he is no Dariusz Wolski from every other Pirates film before it, but Cameron
does capture a lot of beautiful horizons. There's actually more shots of the sea
than there is land in this entry. Cameron also shot for Gone in Sixty Seconds
(2000), Deja Vu (2006) and Total Recall (2012). Lastly, the film score was not
even composed by Hans Zimmer shockingly. To think he would pass up such an
opportunity. However one of his students picked up the reigns and his name was
Geoff Zanelli. Realizing that, the sound of the music itself very much sounds
like Zimmer. The theme is still there too. Zanelli also scored The Scorpion
King 4: Quest for Power (2015).
Points Earned --> 8:10
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