Yes, that Barbossa. The villain-turned-antihero-turned-comic-relief. The revelation that the ornery, greedy pirate is Carina’s father (he left her a baby to protect her from his enemies) gives Geoffrey Rush his most poignant moment since At World’s End . If you’ve seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , you remember the ending. After the crew destroys the Trident (because breaking a magical object is the only way to defeat Salazar), all curses are lifted. Salazar’s ghost crew becomes mortal again—and they immediately drown, having been dead for decades. Salazar himself crumbles.
But Jack’s bad luck is the ocean’s gain. Because he gave away his magic compass (a moment that echoes a deal he made years ago), a supernatural seal is broken. Rising from the Devil’s Triangle is the silent, ghostly Silent Mary and its commander: Captain Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem). Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales...
is the standout. Kaya Scodelario brings intelligence and fire. She’s a woman of science in a world of superstition, constantly correcting men who call her a witch. Her subplot—searching for her unknown father—builds to the film’s most emotional twist: she is the daughter of Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Yes, that Barbossa
However, Salazar suffers from the same problem as many modern blockbuster villains: his motivation is one-note. “Hate Jack Sparrow. Kill all pirates. Repeat.” There’s no moral complexity. But when the visual effects are this haunting—his hair floating underwater even while he’s on a ship deck—you forgive it. The most controversial decision in Dead Men Tell No Tales was sidelining Jack Sparrow in his own franchise. Here, Jack is not the hero. He’s a washed-up, drunken mess who accidentally triggers the plot. The real heroes are Henry Turner and Carina Smyth. If you’ve seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Enter Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant astronomer and horologist accused of witchcraft simply for being a smart woman in the 18th century. She possesses a mysterious diary (the Galileo Galilei diary) that maps the way to the Trident. Reluctantly, the trio of Henry (who wants the Trident to free his father), Carina (who wants to find her lost father), and Jack (who wants to survive) team up for a race against the ghostly Salazar. One of the strongest elements of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is its antagonist. After the lackluster Blackbeard (Ian McShane, wasted in On Stranger Tides ), Bardem brings genuine menace.
When the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise launched in 2003 with The Curse of the Black Pearl , no one expected it to become a $4.5 billion juggernaut. But after the convoluted time-jumps of At World’s End and the critical disappointment of On Stranger Tides , Disney needed a course correction. Enter 2017’s (titled Salazar’s Revenge in some regions).
Fast forward to the main timeline (roughly 1751). Captain Jack Sparrow is at his lowest point. His crew has abandoned him. His compass is literally traded for a bottle of rum. And he’s just botched a bank heist in St. Martin—dragging an entire building through the streets only to end up with one coin.