It’s been six years since Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was released. The fourth movie in Disney’s Pirates franchise, Stranger Tides took over $1 billion at the global box office, but reviews for the movie weren’t all that favorable, with many stating that the plot had become too convoluted and hard to follow. In that respect, maybe a break from the franchise has been a good thing, because now Captain Jack Sparrow and crew are back, with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. 

Johnny Depp will once again return as Captain Jack Sparrow, with Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa, and Orlando Bloom as the now-undead Will Turner. New cast members include Brenton Thwaites as Royal Navy sailor Henry, Kaya Scodelario as Caryna Smyth, and Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar. The second trailer for Dead Men Tell No Tales has arrived and can be viewed, above.

With Will Turner now serving as Davy Jones, Dead Men Tell No Tales picks up with Jack Sparrow trying to find Posideon’s Triton, so that he might harness the power of the high seas. If he can do this, then Salazar and his crew of ghost pirates, who have escaped from the Devil’s Triangle, will be defeated. With the first Pirates movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl, serving as inspiration for Dead Men Tell No Tales, this fifth movie will hopefully be a return to form for the franchise that made pirate movies cool again.

Several major components made the first Pirates movie great, and almost all seem to be back this time around; the ghostly, supernatural element of the franchise seems to be out in full force, as does the rather fantastic special effects. Elsewhere, there’s the return of Bloom’s Will Turner after his absence from On Stranger Tides, and hopefully, plenty of interaction between Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa. The chemistry between Depp and Rush has always been a joy to behold, as has the off the wall humor that every movie has delivered, thanks to Depp’s performance.

That humor is certainly evident in the trailer above, and it offsets the rather dark action very nicely. The trailer also briefly explains the reason behind Salazar’s hatred of Jack Sparrow; it seems very much like Sparrow was responsible for Salazar’s demise into undead territory. There’s also a quick look at the romance between Henry and Carina, and also reference to The Black Pearl being trapped in a bottle (picking up that plot thread from On Stranger Tides). Will  Jack be able to retrieve his ship and defeat Salazar?

It remains to be seen whether Dead Men Tell No Tales will match the critical success of the first movie, but it will almost certainly match the commercial success the franchise has enjoyed so far. Certainly, it feels like a very welcome return to form for Pirates. It seems likely that the trailer will play in front of Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast when it is released on March 17, which will almost certainly drive interest in the movie, too.

Source: Disney [via The Ellen Show]

  • Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Release Date: 2017-05-26