There's no need for introductions. There's no need for character background checks. It's just taking a few old characters and throwing them into another story that has a new premise. At the same time, adding more sugar and spice, and all things nice.
Jack Sparrow has already become a name and a character of its own. It's as if Johnny Depp no longer existed in that realm. Having said that, however, I thought this Sparrow was the weakest because there was less focus on his weird antics. Penelope Cruz's addition was one that I wasn't excited about at all, and her performance here was nothing to shout about. Ian McShane fared a litte better, just a little.
And where there's Jack Sparrow, there's a Captain Barbossa. But I thought this time with the addition of characters such as Blackbeard, Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa also had less of his usual antics and charisma. But I thought Gemma Ward's portrayal of the first mermaid was brilliant - obviously Rob Marshall knew what he wanted. And as a new director in this franchise, I thought he lacked a little bit of the spark and sizzle but still the overall picture was entertaining. The action, comedy and intrigue were all woven very well together, just that it could have been a little more bigger.
What I didn't get was why the sudden cameo appearance by Judi Dench though. And the sub-plot between Astrid Berges-Frisbey's mermaid Syrena and Sam Caflin I didn't care too much of.
Too many pirates, too little swashbuckling. The story is based on a book by Tim Powers of the same name...I'm curious to read it and see how the story originally was! Some elements just did not go together in this movie, feels like two different stories most of the time -.-
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