The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is one of those that started off strong with a great first film and a decent second, but the last two fell a bit short. The only real thing that worked throughout is that of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. While we figured this franchise was finally dead they are heading back to the high seas with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Both Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom are back this time around with Javier Bardem stepping in for the big bad of the film, but can it successful hit the high seas for an all-new adventure or will it sink right off the pier?

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Pirates of the Caribbean follows Captain Jack Sparrow who finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea...including him. Captain Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas. Let me start by saying I am not a huge fan of the franchise, but have enjoyed all of the films in some way including the much hated last entry On Stranger Tides. Going into this new one I kept my expectations low and while there are a lot of issues here I did manage to still have some fun.

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The cast here are all fine with Depp offering up the usual schtick with Sparrow. I enjoyed the down and out version of the character that kicks the film off but he quickly falls right back into the same direction as every other film. His performance isn’t bad by any means, but I think the lack of any real growth with the character and the same thing from him in every film might have just run thin at this point. I did enjoy the bizarre nature and behavior of Bardem’s Captain Salazar who was pretty over the top which is pretty the norm for this franchise. The new young leads are both pretty forgettable despite playing an important part to this tale. The overall story takes fans back to the root of the original trilogy almost forgetting that the last film existed with the exception of a couple of small things.

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As with every one of the films in this franchise there was plenty of over the top action that didn’t always work, but still managed to be a lot of fun. There is a waaaaaaay over the top action piece that kicks the film off that is cool, but so unbelievable it kind of takes you out of the film, but then of course you have to remember that this film is filled with ghosts and creatures. The editing is a bit clunky as well, but somehow overall it still manages to be a good time. While it still doesn’t live up to the original film it does work better than the last and offers up a decent cap to the franchise should this finally be the end. There is an after credit sequence that looks to be setting up a future but we shall see. I know it sounds like I hated the film, but that was not the case, it just might be a franchise that has run out of rum.