#but i love bill nighy too much to shut him down

[ennaih]

Not Every Film I Watch In 2024

18. Living (2022)

[amandaklwrites]

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (POTC #5) (2017)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Rating: 10/10

Movie Review: 

And here we are, at the end of this series (so far!). I hadn’t seen this movie since theaters as well, and let me tell you, I didn’t remember much other than specific moments. 

But I loved this damn movie. 

We have time jumped yet again (I heard a line from Barbossa about the time with the Fountain of Youth being 5 winters ago). 

The opening scene was beautiful, guys, I swear to god. A young boy letting himself sink to the bottom of the sea to see his cursed father. And Will!! It had been too long. I had missed our Will Turner. 

Henry Turner and Carina Smith were wonderful new additions to this series. Henry seemed like a great combination of his parents-- brave and strong and caring like his mother, fierce and willing to die for the people he loved like his father. Carina was bright and smart, a woman with her own mind and already outside of the realms of society, which was interesting to see. Remember what I said about Philip and Syrena in POTC 4 and how they felt lacking to the drive/point of the story? Compare them to these two. That is what I meant! Carina has the key to something, Henry is literally driving the story. They were specific to the storyline, they were the reason everything was happening. They felt important. They were so integrated to the story that it wouldn’t make sense without them. And they were delightful and fresh. I like to think that this movie, specifically, shows that important idea that the new generation will always make changes. The original trilogy was Will and Elizabeth, and this one is now Carina and Henry. They are trying to change everything. 

Salazar is just such a good villain. THE EFFECTS! The idea that they looked like men underwater, even as ghosts, is so damn cool. I loved how there were missing pieces of them, that Salazar’s hair floating like in the midst of water. He was a good villain, to me (which is rare, people who know me will understand that), because of the simpleness of his drive. Think of Beckett-- he was a villain by manipulating, controlling, and just wiping out people because he could. But Salazar simply hated pirates, and it was all about revenge. He hated what Jack Sparrow had done to him (the slight backstory for Jack was so fresh and interesting, by the way!!!) and just wanted to eradicate them all because he was pissed at this curse. Javier Bardem was so incredible and he’s my mom’s favorite villain of the series (fun fact: Javier Bardem is married to Penelope Cruz in real life, and she played Angelica in POTC #4-- so they have both been in the POTC world!). 

And we have our favorites back: Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa. We see Jack as a drunk after all this time, aging and in a rut. His entrance into this movie was hilarious (my mom always says that Jack Sparrow has the best entrances in any film ever), and it was a delight to see him as something he’d never been-- lost, not the best, and completely wasted. But at the heart, he was the same, and we watched him come back to life when there was a new adventure. He was returning to his old self with the help of these two young kids (who, we have to admit, probably reminds him of Elizabeth and Will, which makes him feel young again), and we saw him bloom back into the man we know and love. His humor is still there-- the best being when Carina undresses to swim away, and he tells Henry he could have seen a lot more than her ankles if he had kept his mouth shut-- and he’s still Jack Sparrow deep down. He’s just a little lost and has to find himself. 

Barbossa’s arc finally came and blew me away. We see him at his prime as a pirate-- with a fleet!-- with so much gold and riches. He’s willing to cross a ghost pirate who can kill them all, he just wants power. Until he discovers that Carina, yes, is his daughter-- I remember guessing it at the very beginning of the movie when I saw it in theaters-- and suddenly, he’s changed for her. He sacrifices himself to save her, and finally completes an arc. I cried when I watched that scene, because it was beautiful. It is what (at least, to me) we had been wanting from Barbossa, to see him have something more important than power and wealth. Remember what I sad before about how love is the central storylines of these films? 

The mythology of Poseidon���s trident is interesting and fresh, and its idea to end all curses was so cool to me. That whole scene “underwater” was fantastic and I remember that rather clearly in my mind. Thank god for the technology we have nowadays. My only question is: where is Poseidon? Why would his trident exist, but he would just leave it lying there? I believe there was a quick mention about it being left behind or something (does anyone remember a line?), but it still doesn't make sense to me. We brought in Calypso, why can’t we have Posiedon appear too?? 

I do have to say. That witch that Barbossa spoke with was really cool, but why was she there? To me, she had little part of the story, other than to offer some advice. Maybe they wanted to make her more important if there were movies? 

The action was exciting (that whole execution scene is hilarious and the stealing of the bank was probably one of the biggest action sets I have ever seen performed), the humor was dark and witty and what we love about the movies, and it was bright and colorful (my theory about it being this way because it’s more about Jack than anyone else). This movie continues every aspect of what we love about these movies. 

Now, let me talk about the ending. Will is no longer cursed. I started to cry when you see him walking on land. And I cried more when you see Elizabeth come over the hill and running to Will. How amazing, we ended with Will and Elizabeth once again!!!! Which just shows, this series was always theirs, from the very beginning to the end. They can be together after so long, they can love each other until it ends. I love that it wrapped up with them. We needed them. 

And now, how about that very last ending scene after the credits? Davy Jones???!?!?! Now, hear me out. I have a theory: It’s actually Barbossa. Because honestly, they’ve brought him back to life before, and he’s such a fan favorite, that I don’t think they would let him go. So why not make him the new Davy Jones (though the curse is supposed to be over-- unless, you know, like Barbossa is, wants to live forever and still have some power)? Think about it. When Davy Jones walks in, the banging sounds like Barbossa’s wooden leg that he got in POTC #4. And another thing to further my theory-- I read online that Bill Nighy (who played Davy Jones) was never told that his character would make an appearance in that movie. So.......? What if? 

Now that I am at the end, let me leave some final thoughts about the movies as a whole. 

I know only one writer from the original movie was a part of ALL five movies. But I have to say-- these writers are masters as creating intriguing humans. Every single character is a specific person, with flaws and good things about them, with drives, with hopes and dreams. They suffer heartbreak, they win, they lose, they do it all. Now, as someone who writes, I know how hard it is to create a visual, intricate plot while also creating these vivid characters-- most writers say whether they are more plot driven or character driven (I myself am the latter). But these guys did both. They made fantastic plots and storylines for us to follow with layers of themes and things to think about. But they also created strong characters that we love and love to hate. Even though POTC #4 is a least favorite amongst most fans, I think the plot is still fun and the characters are the strongest part-- think of the stuff with Angelica and Blackbeard and such. The writers does an incredible job of making complicated characters and making them interesting so we find ourselves drawn to them. 

And while these stories feature pirates (that we possibly glorify, when in real life, they were way worse) and action and fantasy and many great characters, I think at the very heart of these stories are love. We see it a common B-story that seems to me, turns into A-stories. Elizabeth and Will only join the world of pirates to protect each other, because they love one another. Jack saves Angelica because he actually loves her (though its complicated). Davy Jones became the monster we love because he had his heart broken and he ripped out his own heart. Henry went in search for Jack, Carina along the way, and the trident of Poseidon to break the curse on his father because he loves him. These stories are about people who love each other, or have love and lost, and it turns them into different sides, into different versions of people and pirates. Because honestly, love helps us decide how and who we are going to be, what we want to do. Love or lack of love makes and shapes us, and these stories represent that. There are so many layers of love (Jack for Will and Elizabeth, Barbossa for his daughter, Philip and Syrena, Blackbeard and Angelica, Gibbs for his captain, etc) that trickle into the stories. Love is what makes us bleed, and that’s what make these characters bleed as well. Yes, it’s about characters finding themselves, and discovering the truth about the world, but at the very root, at the heart, it’s about love. And no one can convince me otherwise. 

These movies are about love, amongst people and pirates and fantasy and sea battles, and I think, at least for me, that’s why we love them. Because we understand, and we feel and love. That’s what it’s all about, isn't it?