It’s not surprising that there is such a thing as the pirate film. The pirate is a spectacular character: an anti-authoritarian rogue who fearlessly sails the high seas and can’t resist the call of adventure.
Great pirate performers include legendary names like Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, and Burt Lancaster. But the most popular pirate for the past fourteen years has undoubtedly been the eccentric and good-hearted Jack Sparrow, whom Johnny Depp modelled after Keith Richards. How the boozy buccaneer earned his not very terrifying nickname sparrow is revealed in Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge.
The fifth film in the pirate franchise based on a theme park ride is half a reboot. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have passed down their pirate costume and corset to a younger couple of bickering adventurers. The quest that drives the plot is the search for Poseidon’s Trident, which can neutralise any curse.
This comes in handy given that the screenwriters have let their fantasies run wild. A brisk beginning makes you hope that this is a new take on the series, but after a while all the old demons rear their ugly heads: infantile humour, overly bombastic action, too many characters, a lack of narrative tension. Depp cannot save this ship from capsizing, and that’s partly because he keeps on doing exactly the same thing.
> Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge. US, dir.: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg, act.: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush
Read more about: Film
Fijn dat je wil reageren. Wie reageert, gaat akkoord met onze huisregels. Hoe reageren via Disqus? Een woordje uitleg.