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[RocknRola]

Eh, I don't think Pirates movies have ever been the type to get huge Marvel-like crowds on Thursday nights. My theater for On Stranger Tides was only like half full too, the same as tonight.

It'll depend on the international audience, just as it did for OST.

I guess, but I really didn't expect to have a room with some 90-100 seats (one of the biggest in my town) to be that empty for a Pirates movie. They are usually fairly popular. Two of them broke the 1$Billion mark, which while not quite the same milestone as 20 years ago is still fairly hard to do.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I believe trademark/translation issues. Zootopia had similar issues where it needed a different title for some international territories.

huh, didn't realize about copyright issues

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Man I want them to set the live action little mermaid in the POTC world so badly.
They'd fit so well.

 

[JimmyRustler]

nybody else be down for a prequel with Anthony De La Torre as young Jack Sparrow?

Thought the little flashback was one of the best things in this movie.

 

[More_Badass]

That was pretty mediocre. The pacing was fine, Bardem's Salazar was an enjoyable villian, and some of the imagery during action and locations were cool, but overall the stakes felt non-existent, the jokes fell flat (especially the witch one), and the finale was quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the movie and franchise

But after rewatching the first movie last night, the biggest flaw was Jack. On my rewatch, what suprised me most was how cool a character Jack was. His wild antics and personality often came across as a front, a diversion, to charm or get people to underestimate and dismiss him, but he always proved that under that was a guy who was always scheming, planning, double-crossing. He was clever, wily, and actually an effective pirate who could swing a situation to his advantage through skill and guile

Here, he was just a clumsy drunk, stumbling along with the plot. It was disappointing to see what Jack Sparrow had evolved (or devolved) into since the first movie

 

[brandonh83]

I thought the finale was fantastic and by far the best thing about the movie. The art direction, action and emotional value was so good there IMO.

Regarding Jack, I do see his character regressing into just an aging constant drunk lol

 

[DemWalls]

As superficial as it is, I'll be satisfied with this movie even if only the visuals are up to par. I'm not demanding a Verbinski-level spectacle, but please tell me it comes close enough to the first three. The main reason I despise On Stranger Tides is how f*ckin' bland it looked. Downright boring.

 

[Lys Skygge]

As superficial as it is, I'll be satisfied with this movie even if only the visuals are up to par. I'm not demanding a Verbinski-level spectacle, but please tell me it comes close enough to the first three. The main reason I despise On Stranger Tides is how f*ckin' bland it looked. Downright boring.

Eh, it still felt a little bland and doesn't touch the first three. I enjoyed it, but go in with low expectations.

 

[brandonh83]

As superficial as it is, I'll be satisfied with this movie even if only the visuals are up to par. I'm not demanding a Verbinski-level spectacle, but please tell me it comes close enough to the first three. The main reason I despise On Stranger Tides is how f*ckin' bland it looked. Downright boring.

I thought it had plenty of visually interesting things, but the climactic action sequence was a real stand-out and to me on par with anything else in the series.

The cinematography doesn't quite feel as lavish, but I don't have a problem with the dark, gritty "pirate" look. I thought it was appropriate.

 

[Bog]

No one had an issue with the redcoats' whole storyline being dissolved instantly by Salazar's ship running into them?

 

[brandonh83]

No one had an issue with the redcoats' whole storyline being dissolved instantly by Salazar's ship running into them?

Nah, mostly because I'm glad they didn't come back. I was expecting that angle to add a bunch of pointless characters and subplot to the story so I was glad that Salazar took them all out.

 

[DemWalls]

Eh, it still felt a little bland and doesn't touch the first three. I enjoyed it, but go in with low expectations.

I thought it had plenty of visually interesting things, but the climactic action sequence was a real stand-out and to me on par with anything else in the series.

The cinematography doesn't quite feel as lavish, but I don't have a problem with the dark, gritty "pirate" look. I thought it was appropriate.

I'll keep my expectations in check, I always do. But if this one really is dark(er) and gritty(er) (as the trailers seemed to suggest), that's already a huge step up for me. OST was way, way too "clean".

 

[brandonh83]

I'll keep my expectations in check, I always do. But if this one really is dark(er) and gritty(er) (as the trailers seemed to suggest), that's already a huge step up for me. OST was way, way too "clean".

The camera is frequently closer to its subjects, moving around and close to the scene rather than being more focused on wide shots. I can see this being a problem with some but I certainly didn't have an issue with it. I love wide shots and the look of Verbinski's films but, you know we're on the fifth movie and I didn't think this style was wrong for it.

Don't get me wrong, there's still wide shots, they're just not as frequent. Basically I guess a good way to put it is that the cinematography is a lot more intimate than grand.

Most of the shots around Salazar are really close to his face, and it's kinda disturbing actually. It puts his grotesqueness front and center a lot of the time which was effective.

 

[Bigfoot]

How long is this one? I like the Pirate movies but my main complaint is they drag scene after scene on for too long. Is it more of the same or does this movie seem tighter?

 

[brandonh83]

How long is this one? I like the Pirate movies but my main complaint is they drag scene after scene on for too long. Is it more of the same or does this movie seem tighter?

2.5 hours. I've seen some say that this drags and they felt the run time, for me I came out wondering if it were shorter than the others.

Depends on how much you're into it, really. I didn't think it dragged, but I was liking all the story beats, character scenes and action.

 

[Shahadan]

Someone spoils me the ending please, since I've seen the movie in trailers already

 

[Captain Zyrain]

So after seeing the movie last night, I really enjoyed it. Then I slept on it, and I still really enjoyed it.

I went with my father in law, who has seen most of the other movies, but didn't really know/remember all the lore details in the Pirates universe. He managed to follow along fine for the most part, and enjoyed the movie. A lot of the laughs played fine for us, and for the whole theater we were in. The Horology bit was groan worthy, but I still laughed. "Are Pirates really all this stupid?" Yep. I made him sit through all the credits because I knew there had to be an after credits scene.. and sure enough there was.. Davy Jones! He was excited for this as I think the "Tentacle face'd guy" was his favorite.

I had a friend who couldn't make our showing, but saw it elsewhere and he also really enjoyed it. We both agreed that we want to see it again.

Really, the whole movie felt like a proper sequel to "At Worlds End" more than anything else, even down to incorporating the musical themes. Not going to lie, it was great hearing the 'love theme' again. I thought opening with Henry and Will was nice, and set the stage for Henry's motivations throughout the movie. It was good to see Will again, after such a long time (10 years?), and doubly so to see him and Elizabeth reunite at the end. I totally cried a little.

Barbossa's back and forth actions were perfectly piratey, though I though the twist of him being Carinas father was well done and pretty unexpected. I thought he had a good ending, though no one ever stays dead for too long in these things. I had honestly expected the Flying Dutchman to rise shortly thereafter, with Barbossa on board.

Henry and Carina were both fine. Henry's story was very straight forward, and he didn't do anything amazing with it, but he was solid. Carina got more twists and turns (and jokes), so I think she stood out as probably the best new thing in the movie. Her being Barbossa's daughter was just the icing on the cake.

Captain Salazar was a good villian, no complaints. The CGI for the ghost soldiers was mostly really well done. I felt they were just different enough from the skeleton pirates from the first movie to not seem like a total rip off. I suppose it would have been nice to get to know some of his crew more, but the cast is such an ensemble anyway it probably would have been overkill. As it is, the British sailors didn't really get much time or exposition (especially compared to Norrington).

All that being said, the movie generally moved very well, I never felt it was boring or meandering on. It was fun, the action set pieces were crazy and dumb, but still fun. I loved that they brought back the Pearl, though I wish they'd done more with it. Got me pretty nostalgic when she popped back up and the music started going. The size joke got a good laugh out of me as well.

I felt like for the first 1/3 of the movie, Jack Sparrow was just a stupid drunk. He had his luck, but mostly was just a drunk. He seemed better as the movie progressed.

Ultimately, I found the movie fun, nostalgic, and entertaining. The music was VERY familiar, but still great. The new characters were not terrible. I'd rate 8/10, slightly below 2 & 3. Would (and will) see again.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Someone spoils me the ending please, since I've seen the movie in trailers already

Just check out the wikipedia page.

 

[brandonh83]

Someone spoils me the ending please, since I've seen the movie in trailers already

You haven't, though.

 

[Shahadan]

Just check out the wikipedia page.

Oh I thought it was a bit too soon for that but apparently not. Thanks

 

[Zalman]

Just came out of the theater. Maybe it was because the reviews lowered my expectations, but I enjoyed it a lot. It's been a while since I watched the others though, so I can't say how it compares to the others.

 

[Tetsujin_MK]

I wish Jack had been more like his younger flashback self.

 

[Snaku]

That was pretty mediocre. The pacing was fine, Bardem's Salazar was an enjoyable villian, and some of the imagery during action and locations were cool, but overall the stakes felt non-existent, the jokes fell flat (especially the witch one), and the finale was quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the movie and franchise

But after rewatching the first movie last night, the biggest flaw was Jack. On my rewatch, what suprised me most was how cool a character Jack was. His wild antics and personality often came across as a front, a diversion, to charm or get people to underestimate and dismiss him, but he always proved that under that was a guy who was always scheming, planning, double-crossing. He was clever, wily, and actually an effective pirate who could swing a situation to his advantage through skill and guile

Here, he was just a clumsy drunk, stumbling along with the plot. It was disappointing to see what Jack Sparrow had evolved (or devolved) into since the first movie

I'll give you that, but that's basically been his character since Dead Man's Chest. I'd love to see the Jack from the first film again, but I don't think any of the writers can see past the caricature.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

nybody else be down for a prequel with Anthony De La Torre as young Jack Sparrow?

Thought the little flashback was one of the best things in this movie.

I would but I kinda like the stinger set up.
Young Jack movie or two would be great though.

As superficial as it is, I'll be satisfied with this movie even if only the visuals are up to par. I'm not demanding a Verbinski-level spectacle, but please tell me it comes close enough to the first three. The main reason I despise On Stranger Tides is how f*ckin' bland it looked. Downright boring.

There are some directorial visual issues(lighting, contrast) but yes this movie tries at least and has legitimate spectacle in it.

 

[brandonh83]

I wish Jack had been more like his younger flashback self.

I think that was sorta there partially so that they could remind the audience about how Jack was when younger. But now he's older, drunker (somehow more than before)... PUNISHED JACK. He had become "friends" and I use that word loosely with Will, but then Will died and the look he had when he was killed looked like it fucked him up pretty good.

I got the sense that after the first trilogy, Jack had, during those, felt like he had actually found a place among those characters despite all the backstabbing and conflicts, but you know, pirates. Them's pirates. But there was still some humanity and camaraderie between them. It made me feel like after the third film he's just been wandering around aimless and maybe sad that these acquaintances he's made with those others is no longer a thing, and just has his crew who also abandoned him.

I dunno. I think that character progression makes sense, he's not quite the lively pirate he was before, aged a lot more, and logically as an aged fuck it all pirate would, is constantly drunk to wash it all away.

 

[Zalman]

One of my favorite things in this movie is what they did to Barbossa. They made him extremely likeable and then ended up killing him. You rarely see movie franchises kill off a recurring and important character like that after several films. It caught me off guard in the best way possible. And the ending with Turner and Swann was such a great way to wrap it up.

I'm glad I ended up watching it even after reading to reviews, because I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

I wish Jack had been more like his younger flashback self.

If there's a sixth film, I hope this is something they tackle. In this movie I got a sense that Jack is past his prime. I want him to realize what he used to be and what he has become. He was an absolute badass in that flashback.

 

[brandonh83]

For sure, I thought the movie had plenty of emotional angles which kept me fully invested even if something crazy or any huge action was going on. I liked all the character scenes and story drive.

Giving Barbossa more humanity by making one of the new main characters his daughter was great and I legit felt that shit near the end. His exit and taking Salazar out was incredibly badass.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

In the moment of the Carina reveal I legitimately thought "This is my favorite one" which lasted a little bit.

 

[FrozenCell]

Apparently the young Sparrow was not a CGI as I first thought

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

That was pretty mediocre. The pacing was fine, Bardem's Salazar was an enjoyable villian, and some of the imagery during action and locations were cool, but overall the stakes felt non-existent, the jokes fell flat (especially the witch one), and the finale was quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the movie and franchise

But after rewatching the first movie last night, the biggest flaw was Jack. On my rewatch, what suprised me most was how cool a character Jack was. His wild antics and personality often came across as a front, a diversion, to charm or get people to underestimate and dismiss him, but he always proved that under that was a guy who was always scheming, planning, double-crossing. He was clever, wily, and actually an effective pirate who could swing a situation to his advantage through skill and guile

Here, he was just a clumsy drunk, stumbling along with the plot. It was disappointing to see what Jack Sparrow had evolved (or devolved) into since the first movie

This largely echoes my thoughts.

This movie rises above the dullness of On Stranger Tides and avoids the needless convolution of At World's End, but still never feels nearly as cool or as fun as the first two movies. It's just sort of there. Nothing all that memorable about it outside of a few neat effects and two pretty fun set pieces.

Jack is definitely handled very wrong in this thing. He slurs every word (To the point where I often couldn't understand him) and never seems to have any idea what's happening. He's less a lovable, oafish rogue, and just some comic relief idiot who occasionally pulls out a sword. I think it's pretty telling that every sword fight Jack has in the movie is filled with his cowardly squeals and winces as he fights. Compare that to his fighting Barbossa in CotBP, or Davy Jones himself in AWE. That swashbuckling courage and smarmy smartassness combined with his goofy weirdness is what made him great. The series needs to remember that.

Depp seems to have a sudden complete lack of physicality. In the bank robbery scene, it's very noticeable how slow and stiff he is, and there are numerous hard-cuts to obvious stunt doubles. I don't think he got that old in the time between films. I'm guessing with the stuff coming out about his personal life, his heart might not have been in this one. Hell, at times I was thinking he might have actually been drunk.

New characters are entirely forgettable.

Villains were alright, but the McGuffin was poorly utilized. They keep saying it's the end-all, be-all of treasure, and that it can control the seas, but there's no real information about it, and they break it after a few minutes, only using it to part the waters for a sword fight. That's pretty lame. So, does Poseidon exist in this universe? Is he still alive? What else could that trident do? Guess we'll never know.

So, yeah. Mediocre, but the sequels could put things back on the right track. Resurrecting Davy Jones in the sequel tease is a smart move.

Honestly, this series needs Gore back.

 

[brandonh83]

I don't really agree with that Jack criticism. I thought he did have that swashbuckling angle and he is older than he was in those other instances. That whole sequence where he's on the side of the ship swordfighting and the ship ornament comes alive and goes for him was cool and there were some good fights with him and Salazar.

For me he really wasn't that much different. Just older and with more of a "I don't really give a shit I just want to live" demeanor.

About the trident, I think its existence alone tells us that Poseidon was part of this universe, and I thought its inclusion was there for all the reasons the story built up to.

I'd always be down for some more lore though and I think the second act of the movie could have went into that a bit more.

 

[More_Badass]

Villains were alright, but the McGuffin was poorly utilized. They keep saying it's the end-all, be-all of treasure, and that it can control the seas, but there's no real information about it, and they break it after a few minutes, only using it to part the waters for a sword fight. That's pretty lame. So, does Poseidon exist in this universe? Is he still alive? What else could that trident do? Guess we'll never know.

So, yeah. Mediocre, but the sequels could put things back on the right track. Resurrecting Davy Jones in the sequel tease is a smart move.

Honestly, this series needs Gore back.

That was a disappointment too. They built this up as the power to control the seas, and then all it did was throw Jack around a bit with water. Considering how powerful Salazar was (all of a sudden, he can possess people too?), the Trident's powers as displayed made the entire quest come across as worthless.

 

[brandonh83]

That was a disappointment too. They built this up as the power to control the seas, and then all it did was throw Jack around a bit with water. Considering how powerful Salazar was (all of a sudden, he can possess people too?), the Trident's powers as displayed made the entire quest come across as worthless.

I mean, the sea was split and Henry had to destroy it before Salazar could fully utilize its potential. I got the feeling that it was indeed very powerful, I mean even how he was flinging Jack around with it was crazy. And it wasn't pointless, it led to Salazar's death and realized the exact reason Henry Turner was after it. It brought Will back. It was important on a character level.

 

[Toa TAK]

Jack is definitely handled very wrong in this thing. He slurs every word (To the point where I often couldn't understand him) and never seems to have any idea what's happening. He's less a lovable, oafish rogue, and just some comic relief idiot who occasionally pulls out a sword. I think it's pretty telling that every sword fight Jack has in the movie is filled with his cowardly squeals and winces as he fights. Compare that to his fighting Barbossa in CotBP, or Davy Jones himself in AWE. That swashbuckling courage and smarmy smartassness combined with his goofy weirdness is what made him great. The series needs to remember that.

This is the biggest issue with me in this movie as well, and it's incredibly apparent after re-watching the first how different the character is. It's fine to have some silliness, even in the Davy Jones fight there's some in there, but I didn't feel like it was the main vehicle for the sword fight. Kinda bummed there wasn't some great sword fight with Salazar, but my expectations were smooshed after Stranger Tides (which had a pretty fun sword fight with him).

 

[Biggest-Geek-Ever]

I thought it was kind of funny how they treat the necessity of destroying the trident as such a huge reveal. This thing has power over all curses and destroying it breaks those curses? You don't say!

On Jack Sparrow, I agree with everyone that he's simply not fun here, and him being a drunk is the big reason why. It's also weird how constantly Jack is getting thrown around and smashed through walls with no visible harm; he practically comes off as invincible.

 

[DrForester]

I kind of liked this movie. Jack felt flanderized, but not as extremely as it could have been. But I thought this one was enjoyable enough. Liked Salazar, and thankfully there was a lot of Barbossa to balance out Jack just kind of being there. Wish they could have gotten Orlando Bloom back for more than a day of shooting.

I think I might remember having seen this one in year. I forgot everything that happened in the 4th one and barely remember going to see it, it was so forgettable.

 

[brandonh83]

Wish they could have gotten Orlando Bloom back for more than a day of shooting.

Same, but it felt right too for him to be the bookends. I would have liked more scenes between him and Henry, but the opening and ending were pretty great. Keira showed up looking like she has poor blood circulation now unfortunately.

I also have a huge soft spot for the themes in At World's End, so every time it played Hoist the Colors or Will and Elizabeth's love theme I was pretty smitten.

The ending was a happier version of the ending of World's End and it was nice to get that payoff after ten years of waiting for Will to be set free.

edit: I think another big thing for me when it comes to these movies and having debates with others is that I simply don't care about Jack Sparrow as much as everyone else. I like him plenty as a character and he's very iconic, but there's so much more I like about these movies than him. He works better for me as a supporting character, and I was mostly into Henry and Carina in this one with Jack being like the third wheel.

So maybe that's why I didn't analyze Jack so much as others, he still felt like that comedic, zany drunk that he did in the others to me, not really that much less anyhow. But for me the focus was more on Barbossa and Carina, and I thought those two characters were great in this and provided the emotional core along with the Turners.

One reason I didn't like Stranger Tides was that it felt like The Jack Sparrow Show, he was front and center and that to me didn't feel right.

 

[Slaythe]

Apparently the young Sparrow was not a CGI as I first thought

Of course it was.

They use body doubles, then the actual actor for the performance, and then use computers to rejuvenate him. Sometimes manually painting / compositing over it, sometimes using 3D models, and usually both at once.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

In the moment of the Carina reveal I legitimately thought "This is my favorite one" which lasted a little bit.

One of the worst convenient coincidences in the movie. Me and my friends collectively rolled our eyes.

 

[Carl2291]

Jack lost his crew, his ship and all sense of purpose. Literally a washed up has been with no real hope or idea of getting back the Pearl. Barbossa controls that part of the ocean and all Jack has is a compass that's currently no use to him. That's why he gives the compass away.

By the end of the film he has his crew back, he has his ship and the compass and he once again has a purpose.

If it's the last film then it closes everything nicely. If we're gonna get another 1 or 2, then Jack is set up as he was after COTBP.

 

[brandonh83]

Jack lost his crew, his ship and all sense of purpose. Literally a washed up has been with no real hope or idea of getting back the Pearl. Barbossa controls that part of the ocean and all Jack has is a compass that's currently no use to him. That's why he gives the compass away.

This is precisely why I thought his character and actions were perfectly reasonable and logical in this film.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Jack starts PotC w/o a crew and ship only a gun with a single bullet and stranded in Port Royale. That had him in top form.

 

[brandonh83]

Jack starts PotC w/o a crew and ship only a gun with a single bullet and stranded in Port Royale. That had him in top form.

You don't think after time and the events that he's been through that maybe by this point he gives less of a fuck?

 

[Kud Dukan]

That was pretty mediocre. The pacing was fine, Bardem's Salazar was an enjoyable villian, and some of the imagery during action and locations were cool, but overall the stakes felt non-existent, the jokes fell flat (especially the witch one), and the finale was quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the movie and franchise

But after rewatching the first movie last night, the biggest flaw was Jack. On my rewatch, what suprised me most was how cool a character Jack was. His wild antics and personality often came across as a front, a diversion, to charm or get people to underestimate and dismiss him, but he always proved that under that was a guy who was always scheming, planning, double-crossing. He was clever, wily, and actually an effective pirate who could swing a situation to his advantage through skill and guile

Here, he was just a clumsy drunk, stumbling along with the plot. It was disappointing to see what Jack Sparrow had evolved (or devolved) into since the first movie

Your issues with Jack have been my biggest problem with all the films after the first. I thought he was a fantastic character in the first film, but he quickly became a parody of that character in future films.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

You don't think after time and the events that he's been through that maybe by this point he gives less of a fuck?

No. He had the pearl in his palm.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

Same, but it felt right too for him to be the bookends. I would have liked more scenes between him and Henry, but the opening and ending were pretty great. Keira showed up looking like she has poor blood circulation now unfortunately.

I also have a huge soft spot for the themes in At World's End, so every time it played Hoist the Colors or Will and Elizabeth's love theme I was pretty smitten.

The ending was a happier version of the ending of World's End and it was nice to get that payoff after ten years of waiting for Will to be set free.

edit: I think another big thing for me when it comes to these movies and having debates with others is that I simply don't care about Jack Sparrow as much as everyone else. I like him plenty as a character and he's very iconic, but there's so much more I like about these movies than him. He works better for me as a supporting character, and I was mostly into Henry and Carina in this one with Jack being like the third wheel.

So maybe that's why I didn't analyze Jack so much as others, he still felt like that comedic, zany drunk that he did in the others to me, not really that much less anyhow. But for me the focus was more on Barbossa and Carina, and I thought those two characters were great in this and provided the emotional core along with the Turners.

One reason I didn't like Stranger Tides was that it felt like The Jack Sparrow Show, he was front and center and that to me didn't feel right.

I get you!

Launching the Dying Gull brought a huge smile to my face... hearing those themes again.

I agree the Saga for me was more about Will & Elizabeth and everything they went through from the first to the third movie. Jack was good of course, but he wasn't central. Seeing Norrington's sword go from Will's hand in Curse to stabbing Davy Jones' heart in At World End (and everything in between) was really cool to see unfold.

"I don't think now's the best time!" is probably one of my favorite scenes from the whole trilogy. I don't think any one scene in Dead Men Tell No Tales is equal to this, but it REMINDS me of it, which is close enough for me, for now.

 

[brandonh83]

No.

I do. It is what it is I guess.

Dude's been through a lot more shit at this point. Fucker was swallowed by a kraken.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I do. It is what it is I guess.

Dude's been through a lot more shit at this point. Fucker was swallowed by a kraken.

He only grew from that. Minus the insanity.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

From the trailers I thought i'd hate young Jack but that was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Man i'd die if they could do a Black Sails style tv series about young Jack on lower tier adventures.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I do really like the devouring ship. What was its name?