Javier Bardem’s ghoulish pirate hunter Salazar never amounts to much more than a sight gag, and not a terribly impressive one at that, as the digitally altered ghost sailors all look dodgy. Bloom and Knightley were simply more charming together and their characters more engaging than any of the couplings the films have offered since.
While they are a stronger duo for Jack to interact with than On Stranger Tides’ unconvincing missionary and mermaid, and their respective arcs do lend the film some genuine moments of heart and emotion, the series has never quite regained the dynamic that Jack enjoyed with the original trilogy’s Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. It plays out as an obligatory add-on to a story that would work just the same without it. Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario try to develop a chemistry between their respective characters and with Jack, but Henry and Carina’s romance feels forced and unearned. So, again, who is steering this ship? Henry and Carina’s motives are in keeping with the Pirates series’ hallmarks of family, revenge and redemption, and love and curses. On top of that, Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Hector Barbossa is also back in the mix and playing a pivotal enough role that his choices affect the storyline as much as the main trio does. All three, as well as the villainous Captain Salazar, seek the Trident of Poseidon for their own reasons, but this only splits the focus on which character we’re supposed to be most invested in seeing attain it. Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow and the film’s new young leads, sailor Henry and astronomer Carina, all take turns at driving the plot that it becomes tough to discern whose story this ultimately is.
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