Certificate: 12A
Running time: 129 minutes
Directed by: Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg.
What's it about: With Captain Jack Sparrow down on his luck, he teams up with Henry Turner and Carina Smyth in search of the mythical Trident of Poseidon. However he must also face his most formidable foe yet, the murderous and unforgiving Captain Salazar.
The verdict: It has been almost fourteen years since we were first introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow, and the first Pirates of the Caribbean film was released. The franchise has been a massive financial success for Disney and has spawned four sequels, with this instalment being the fifth film in the franchise. After the box office success of this film, it looks very likely that even more films will follow.
Most of the cast are back in their familiar roles with new additions Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner, and Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth joining the cast. For fans of the previous films, it's nice to see the characters we already know and like. The addition of Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario adds an element of freshness and youth, as well as adding the potential for future character storylines.
Although the film is just over two hours, it doesn't feel long. It's an easy watch, with plenty of action sequences and visual effects to keep you interested. The film does rely a lot on CGI, but that is what you would expect from a Pirates of the Caribbean film and so it's not out of place. I found the pacing just right, and was engaged throughout.
However, there are several flaws which did affect my overall enjoyment of the film. Firstly, and I'm at pains to say this, but Captain Jack Sparrow was perhaps one of the weakest characters in the film for me. Usually full of charm and charisma, Captain Jack steals every scene he's in. However in this instalment, I could almost tell that even Johnny Depp was fed up of the character and was there for the massive pay cheque. Captain Jack is drunk and useless a lot of the time (and not in the usual amusing way), and manages to escape or be rescued from every situation that he gets into, in a way that actually becomes slightly boring. It takes away from any potential tension that the film builds up.
The villain of the film, played by Javier Bardem, feels shoehorned in. The story behind why he is chasing Jack, doesn't quite ring true and feels unnecessary. In this way, the character development in this film is pretty weak, and essentially a fifth film wasn't really needed. However a post credits scene is serious sequel bait, and could perhaps steer future films back towards familiar territory. I'll say no more!
Overall, even though I throughly enjoyed watching the film and it is definitely better than the fourth film, it wasn't one that stuck in my mind for very long afterwards.
Should you watch this film? Yes. You should watch this film at the cinema if you're a fan of the franchise, just because the special and visual effects lend themselves better to the big screen. Plus this is an enjoyable fantasy adventure. If you're not a big fan, then I'd wait for the DVD.
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