- Direction: Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg
- Actors: Johnny Depp, Kaya Scodelario
- Rating: 3 / 5
The scallywag pirate Captain Sparrow (Johnny Depp, still heavily mascaraed and stumbling drunk) sets sail again in the fifth instalment of the blockbuster high-seas franchise.
This time around, he’s up against a formidable new adversary in the shape of a ghoulish pirate hunter (Javier Bardem) determined to rid the ocean of buccaneers once and for all.
The pirate forges a tenuous alliance with a self-taught astronomer (Kaya Scodelario, oozing oomph) and a headstrong young sailor (Aussie newcomer Brenton Thwaites; bland) and together they decide to solve their problems by retrieving a mysterious artifact capable of breaking any curse at sea.
Incoming Norwegian directing duo Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) deliver plenty of thrills and some awesome underwater effects (dampened, as always, by murky 3D).
The plot is a semi-coherent brew of boisterous battles, a budding romance and an outlandish bank robbery unlike almost anything seen before. Supernatural elements help stir things up too.
In addition to Geoffrey Rush, who reprises his role of the flamboyant nemesis-turned- collaborator, there are gamely cameos by series veterans Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, besides a guest appearance by Paul McCartney.
The curse has evidently been lifted from the disastrous previous edition of the Pirates movie (…On Stranger Tides). Indeed, for the first time since the franchise starter (…The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003) one is led to exclaim, ‘Entertainment, ahoy!’
