5th chapter of ‘Pirates’ high on CGI tricks
Print Edition
THE opening scene of the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” is a fitting metaphor for where we stand in this long franchise: A creaky old galleon is unceremoniously yanked up from the ocean depths and the only things aboard are cranky old ghosts.
A weary, battered fifth chapter “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” lumbers into theaters this summer high on CGI tricks but with a hopelessly muddled plot and recurring characters basically running on fumes.
Johnny Depp is back as Jack Sparrow, as is Geoffrey Rush as a well-bearded Barbossa, looking a lot like the Cowardly Lion, and his faithful capuchin monkey. Newcomers include Golshifteh Farahani as a pretty cool, punky witch, and Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites, who play young star-crossed lovers with serious daddy issues, adding vitality and maybe future franchise possibilities.
The bad guy this time is Javier Bardem as a ghost ship captain and he proves to be an extraordinary actor because he comes across as a very believable ghost ship captain. His full-throttled, single-minded fury recalls Ricardo Montalban in “The Wrath of Khan.”
The film also features the returns of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley — but in tiny cameos only — as the lovers Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. They missed the fourth installment because they were smart.
Directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning have been given the keys to the kingdom and they’ve thrown everything at it — a half-dozen big sea battles, a shotgun wedding, a joint execution, underwater sword fights and even a Beatle. Look carefully and you’ll find Sir Paul McCartney doing a cameo in a jail. (For those of you keeping score at home, this movie now co-stars one monkey and one Beatle.)
Fans of this Pirates franchise have had to wait six long years for this offering, ever since “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in 2011. That was the one about the fountain of youth. It took over from the third, bloated edition, “At World’s End,” which seemed to be about a global chase for a magical navigation chart and some hot pirate-on-pirate fighting. This fifth edition is all about a hunt for the Trident of Poseidon, which can break curses. But it’s also about Bardem and his ghost crew busting out of the Devil’s Triangle to hunt pirates, as well as Barbossa protecting his pirate empire, and the two young lovers fulfilling their destinies. Keep up: There’s a test at the end. Just kidding.
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