Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge

Ladies and gentlemen, you will remember this as the day (May 25) that Captain Jack Sparrow returned! Yes, Jack and the gang are back after six long years for a new adventure and new characters.

But that doesn’t mean it’s lost any of the old appeal; Jack is still there drinking his rum (though perhaps he’s drank a little too much this time) and cracking jokes, and there’s still plenty of swashbuckling to be done.

Although at the start of the film it doesn’t seem like that… Jack’s luck seems to have run out and what remains of his crew have tired of him. Enter the young and devastatingly handsome Henry Turner, son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, played by the amazing Brenton Thwaites. Young Henry needs a ship so he can set sail on a quest of his own: to find the legendary Trident of Poseidon in order to free his father from the curse of the Dutchman.

Thwaites plays the new Turner to perfection, familiar to how Orlando Bloom played Will Turner in the first film, drawing parallels and giving the movie a familiar feel. Henry and Jack team up with a young female astronomer named Carina Smyth (played by Kaya Scodelario) who wants to live up to the memory of a father she never knew.

Our new trio set off in search of the Trident with a new danger following them; Salazar and his dead/undead crew, who have a vendetta against Jack and want to make him pay for what he did to them. Salazar is played by the brilliant Javier Bardem, he makes the character feel creepy at times, with a vile temper but it isn’t overly scary – perfect for younger kids. The way Barbaosa is introduced into the story is comedic but the plot lines and every character’s endgame sometimes gets lost in translation when the fight scenes begin. However on the whole it’s a great plot with a few throw backs to the first three films in the franchise.

In relation to the effects they’ve come a long way since the first film’s effects. In particular the effects that make Salazar and his crew look dead/undead are extraordinary and slightly Davy Jones-esque. The special effects department have done themselves proud with this film; one scene that stands out in my mind is towards the end of the film, where they have found the location of the Trident. Without giving too much away it is extraordinary how they managed to create that almost Biblical scene.

With a lot of laughs and jokes this new film in the Pirates franchise will have you feeling good at all of Jack’s antics. It’s a good film for kids to see but, like many franchises that go on for many years, it sometimes seems lacking. For instance I couldn’t make up my mind about Carina; I couldn’t decide whether I liked her, disliked her or if it was just an average performance from the actress.

However with that being said I did enjoy the film a lot, I was constantly either laughing or smiling and sometimes crying (there is a slight plot twist at the end of the film that really got me). This film is one of those films that you need to see to make up your own minds, but it’s a good family film that every member of your family will be able to enjoy.