Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

After so many times, the characters have lost some of their zest and are no longer than interesting. Barbossa is still scowling, Sparrow is still doing the same crap, and maybe only one or two scenes are really funny. And to make sure it's not just sterile grey and a variation on the same scripted tripe a hundred times over, new faces and new plot pieces are added to the puzzle. The creators have certainly made a very bold effort to move forward, and the phenomenal stunts this time are well complemented by a fast pace and very clear action. It's not nearly as pompous and bombastic as the madcap previous two episodes, but it's still, not and probably never will be as balanced and inventive as the first one was. The pirates are dead and stale stuff even if Depp was walking on his head. (08/06/2017)

The Pirates of the Caribbean films were never clever but they were funny, entertaining, and catchy. In my opinion, with the fifth film of the series, they reached a stage of rotting where it hardly affects me anymore. The film doesn't even offend me and just evokes indifference and boredom. Perhaps I'm slightly concerned about the IQ of the target audience. If this kind of silly infantile entertainment can justify its existence and fill up cash registers, society is not heading toward a brighter future... Overall impression: 20% for the set design and special effects. (25/02/2022)

A season of long and infinitely stupid movies. In the first half hour, there are a few candid ideas, then it's just two types of misery porn: you can watch mischievously as the screenwriters have a hard time with it and try to connect the plot so that it makes sense at least a little bit, and you can watch Depp even more mischievously, who clearly finds more of himself than he would like in the role of a bankrupt pirate feeding on self-deception. Joachim Rønning / Espen Sandberg do a solid job, but this ship leaks more than the Kon-Tiki. (17/09/2017)

Right from the start, the filmmakers threw a lot of "funny" scenes at me that I probably would have enjoyed as a school kid. They just seemed cheesy now. As usual, a new character was added to the plot for another big name. I've seen Javier Bardem in much better roles, though. This one was rather boring. I guess the problem is that this is the fifth time I've seen a variation of the same, including the latest funny-romantic-emotional couple that is very similar to the original couple that managed to bum me out at the end of the film. Plus, Moses turns out to be just a disgustingly overrated star of the ancient illusionist scene. Keeping track of how the characters are related to one another is beyond anybody’s capabilities. (15/11/2017)

The production design and the effects are great, as only Bruckheimer's bottomless wallet can do, but the fifth encounter with Jack Sparrow is like meeting a drunk who tells you funny stories and you don't want to listen to him anymore because he's annoying. He just drunkenly drones on and on and on and you get tired of it :o) (29/09/2017)