Henry Turner, the 9 year-old son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, paddles out to sea then jumps overboard with a rock tied to his ankle. He sinks to the bottom and lands on the deck of the Flying Dutchman. The ship surfaces and his father (Orlando Bloom), who is partly covered by barnacles, confronts him. Henry has a plan to free his father from the Dutchman but his father is skeptical.
Ten years later, Henry (Brenton Thwaites) is aboard a British Man-o-War as it chases down a pirate ship. Seeing that the ship is about to sail into suicidal waters, he confronts the captain and is soon tossed into the brig. Of course, the ship sinks and the ghost of Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) leaves Henry alive to tell Jack Sparrow that vengeance is coming.
In St. Martin, Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) has been convicted of witchcraft - because erudition is a clear sign of sorcery in women - and sentenced to hang. However, she manages to escape the prison because she is also skilled at picking locks. She happens to dash past the grand opening of a new bank.
In the bank is none other than Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who is clearly inebriated, entangled with the banker's wife, and rather perplexed as to why he is there. It turns out that he is robbing the bank. Thus begins a ludicrous chase in which a team of horses drag the entire bank through the streets while Jack attempts to intercept and just happens to bump into Carina on the way.
To add to the cast of characters, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) has risen to the pinnacle of the Caribbean pirate hierarchy but the unleashed ghost of Captain Salazar is wiping out his fleet and can only be sated by the death of Jack Sparrow. Thus, Barbossa sets out to find Jack.
Inevitably, all these parties collide in outlandish and comedic fights and chases. Henry and Carina provide the romance. It is a fun romp, but - like Alien: Covenant - does not bare much scrutiny after its over.
There are plenty of anachronisms, some of which have occurred in previous films in the franchise. The guillotine is still some decades from being invented and, even when it was, it was not adopted by the British. Why is everyone baffled by the idea of celestial navigation? Carina is the only one who can navigate by stars. Also, Carina is familiar with John Harrison's use of chronometers for determining longitude and uses a pocket watch for that purpose. Such pocket watches were not introduced until 1759. However, Blackbeard (died 1718) was prominent in the last movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Jack should be a very old man. Executions of witches mostly ended with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, long before Carina was born but I suppose having an educated woman accused of witchcraft was supposed to be funny?
The movie contains the modern practice of making oafs out of men and a paragon out of the heroine. Carina can do no wrong and is this endless source of confidence, witty comments, and demeaning barbs At one point she asks if all pirates are this stupid to which all the pirates agree. Yes, it was funny but it plays to an all too common trope in modern movies. When she is on the gallows, she starts to give a lecture to the unwashed and banters with Jack who is about to be guillotined. When rescued (no, that isn't a spoiler, we all knew she was going to be rescued), she upbraids her rescuer for the placement of his hands. Such gratitude.
There is a post credit scene that promises a sequel with Will and Elizabeth. At the current pace, I suspect this one will take place during the Napoleonic Wars.
No comments:
Post a Comment