Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge

For fans of the series, the fifth Pirates movie (given the dull title Salazar’s Revenge internationally, but known as Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US) is a real return to form after the dire fourth film, On Stranger Tides.  Even if viewed in isolation, this is a far more entertaining film than the last film, but as a culmination of the character threads left dangling at the end of the third film, it’s even more satisfying.

Premise:  Will and Elizabeth’s grown up son, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), sets off on a quest to find Poseidon’s Trident, a mythical artefact that could break Will’s curse and release him from the Flying Dutchman.  But to find the Trident, he needs to recruit Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and enlist the help of ostracised scientist Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), all the while staying one step ahead of the ghostly Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem).

Verdict:

I’ll be the first to admit, I could not have been less excited when they announced they were making a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  I had enjoyed the first one (The Curse of the Black Pearl) back in 2003, and I was actually one of the few people who loved the second and third films (Dead Man’s Chest in 2006 and At World’s End in 2007) despite (or even because of) their tendency to dial the mythological craziness up to eleven.  But then At World’s End seemed to wrap up the tale nicely, and that was that.

Then in 2011 came the belated fourth film, On Stranger Tides, which I thought effectively killed the franchise.  Whereas the original trilogy had followed Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan as the main protagonists, which allowed Jack Sparrow to shine in a supporting role, On Stranger Tides had relied on Captain Jack to carry the film himself, and it just didn’t work.  Couple that misstep with a completely forgettable villain, an unengaging femme fatale, a couple of two-dimensional young leads, and a muddled and unexciting quest that had no connection whatsoever to the original trilogy, and the result was an overblown, but fundamentally dull, mess.

“…a real return to form…”

After On Stranger Tides I thought the series was dead in the water, and so when they eventually announced a fifth film was coming in 2017 (ten years after the last good Pirates movie), I thought it would be the final nail in the coffin.  When they announced that it had the clichéd title Salazar’s Revenge, it seemed to just confirm my worst fears.

(On that point, I have no idea why they dropped the US title, Dead Men Tell No Tales - which not only fits in well with the other titles in the series, but which also actually means something in relation to the plot - and replaced it for the international release with the uninspired Salazar’s Revenge title.  This seems even worse that when The Fate of The Furious was renamed Fast & Furious 8 for the international market!)

However, having finally seen the fifth Pirates film, I’m happy to report that it’s a real return to form.  The first stroke of genius was linking the plot back to the first trilogy (something that On Stranger Tides failed to do in any meaningful way), by having the main protagonist be Will and Elizabeth’s son, and have him going on a quest to break his father’s curse.  After just the first couple of opening scenes, the film feels like a “proper” Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and not just a cynical cash-in like On Strange Tides did.  Long before Captain Jack becomes involved, Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) is joined by Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), and their chemistry fills the void left by Will and Elizabeth’s absence.  That’s not to say that they are simply Will and Elizabeth clones – Henry obviously is quite similar to his father, but Carina is an orphan who is charged with being a witch because she studies science and astronomy, which is a far cry from Elizabeth’s life of privilege as the governor’s daughter.

“…feels like an authentic continuation of the original trilogy…”

By having an engaging pair of young leads again, it frees up Jack Sparrow to do what he does best – be an entertaining supporting character, rather than the lead.  His pirating shenanigans, in which he’s aided by Gibbs (Kevin McNally) and Scrum (Stephen Graham) from the earlier films, starts off with a fantastically entertaining and ridiculous bank heist, and it feels like they’ve found the right balance for the character again.

Speaking of returning characters, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is also back, but unlike On Strange Tides where he felt entirely superfluous and bolted-on to the plot, here it feels like a natural and genuine continuation of his storyline.  And the same can be said for so much of Pirates 5 – the inclusion of familiar elements, like the threat from the British Navy and even the return of Murtogg and Mullroy (the soldiers-turner-pirates from the original trilogy), means that the plot involving Henry Turner’s quest to break his father’s curse feels like an authentic continuation of the original trilogy.  And as a fan of the original trilogy, I didn’t realise how emotionally invested I was in the series until the ending of this film nearly brought a tear to my eye.

“…there is a lot of nostalgic fun to be had…”

I should also mention that Javier Bardem is entertainingly sinister as Captain Salazar, the notorious pirate hunter with a personal grudge against Jack Sparrow.  He plays it with just the right level of pantomime menace, and the CGI for his “eternally drowning” ghost is very visually impressive.  The writers have also been quite playful with the expected clichés, such as by showing that Jack has all but forgotten about Salazar by the time the film starts, despite the fact that Salazar has obsessed about him during every waking moment for years.  But ultimately – and despite the film’s international title – the film isn’t about Salazar’s revenge, although it does provide an interesting backdrop against which the real adventure unfolds.

The action set-pieces are also a joy to behold – as well as the bank heist I mentioned earlier, the scene where Salazar unleashes zombie sharks is the kind of spectacle that's always welcome, and the finale is equally creative and visually impressive.  There’s also a return to the emphasis on real stunt work, with a battle scene involving a guillotine reminding me of the energy and inventiveness of the cartwheel three-way swordfight in Dead Man’s Chest.

At the end of the day, the fifth Pirates film is more of the same, so if you thought the original trilogy had too many characters, too many complicated plot threads, and too many magical MacGuffins, then you might have the same issues with this film.  But equally, if you enjoyed the original trilogy, there is a lot of nostalgic fun to be had in this return to form.  If this is the end of the series, at least it ends on a high, rather than the misstep that was the last film.