Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

There's no franchise quite like the Pirates of the Caribbean. Jack Sparrow has become the most iconic fictional pirate. Blackbeard may be the most notorious, but Jack Sparrow always steals the show.

In the fifth and final installation of the Pirates' franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales follows the story -- or rather stories of Jack Sparrow, Henry Turner, Karina Smith, and Captain Salazar. To break it down, each character has a goal that connects with the other character's goal. So here it is, Henry Turner wants to free his father, Will Turner, captain of the Flying Dutchmen, and to do so he must find the trident of Poseidon. Karina Smith wants to fulfill her father's dream of finding Poseidon's trident. What she intends to do with the trident is unclear. Jack Sparrow wants to return the sea after his beloved Black Pearl is stored in a bottle by the power of Blackbeard from the previous film. Captain Salazar wants to hunt down Jack Sparrow after being freed from years of desolation in the Devil's Triangle. Jack Sparrow was the one who put Captain Salazar in the Devil's Triangle which fuels Salazar ever ending hatred towards Jack.

There are quite a lot of plots in this film as well as bad guys. Compared the first three films where there was a singular antagonist that later united with other antagonist, this film had divided antagonists, these being Captain Salazar and the red coat soldiers. Captain Salazar only intended to go after Jack, not Henry or Karina. The red coats have always been the main antagonists of the franchise due to its historical fiction aspects. Red coats have always hunted pirates and tried with all their might to obliterate them from the seas. So, this would be a more fitting antagonist, especially with the read coats going after all three main characters. But, the movie wanted the antagonist to be someone from Jack's past. With that, Henry and Karina didn't really have anyone stopping them from pursuing their goal besides Jack's antagonist.

This movie is definitely aesthetically pleasing, but the plots are not. Karina seems to be a woman from the past advocating for the woman of the future. I admire her passion for science, but I am not pleased with the subtle feminist motive behind it. I prefer characters to have motives based on desires not political or social reasons.

I really wanted Henry to be the focus of the story along with Jack, but Karina took the spot light. She seemed to be focused on the most since she was essentially the guide map to the trident. I wanted Henry to be focused on the most because he is the son of William and Elizabeth Turner. He was the whole reason I got excited for the premiere of this film. Will and Elizabeth will forever be my favorite pirate duo. Many other fans share this passion with me, so it would be have been better if Henry was the center focus.

I also didn't like the random witch character. Barbosa supposedly saved her from the sea and has since been under his debt. But, the witch is literally only in the film for less than five minutes. She only serves for two purposes. Handing Jack's compass over to Barbosa and leading the red coats to where Jack, Karina, and Henry are headed. Other than that, she's never seen again. What really bothered me is that the red coats were hanging women who they believed to be witches. Karina was believed to be a witch due to her vast knowledge on time and astronomy, so she was arrested and sent to the gallows. But, the one person who was a legitimate witch was not being hanged or punished. It bothered me that the red coats new what a legitimate witch looked like, yet that hung women out of fear and spite for them having a knowledge. I understand that this was probably because the red coats were corrupt, but I mean really. Also, why go through all that trouble of making the witch look more legitimate than Tia Dalma only for her to be in the film for two scenes?

The franchise lost its uniqueness when the original trio, Jack, Elizabeth, and Will, broke up after the third movie. They should have stopped the franchise after the third movie if the makers knew they weren't going to get the original actors back. The fourth installation of the franchise, On Stranger Tides, featured Penelop Cruz and Ian McShane. Penelope Cruz's character, Angelica, sort of felt like a stand in for Elizabeth. Angelica served as Jack's love interest despite him not pursuing her romantically. The fourth movie really lowered the standards and felt like the black sheep of the franchise. The fifth installment wasn't much better, but the ending made up for the cluttered plots.

There are rumors and speculation for a possible sixth pirates film. If the original trio returns to the franchise, then I will gladly watch the movie. However, Johnny Depp was almost fired from the 5th movie for showing up to work late and sometimes drunk. Of course these are rumors, but it's not uncommon in the show biz world.

The fifth installment may have pulled on the strings of my kindred heart for its ending, but the plots could have been deduced to a simplified story to follow. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the returned hype of a well produced pirate film, and I will look forward for any more to come.

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