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****
Dir: Joachim Renning, Espen Sandberg (12A, 145 mins)
After the bloated original trilogy and its lacklustre follow-up On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is back in another nautical adventure that feels far more in spirit with the original, The Curse of the Black Pearl. Sparrow is being pursued by the ghostly Salazar played by a menacing and heavily CGI-enhanced Javier Bardem, out for revenge on all pirates. The only way Sparrow can survive this onslaught is to find the trident of Poseidon himself, which will give its wielder control over the seas. Sparrow, however, is washed up and scared of the water and has two fresh faces to deal with, Brendon Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario are the new Keira and Orlando, star-crossed lovers for Sparrow to bounce off. Geoffrey Rush also returns to the franchise with bumbling pirates played by Giles New and Angus Barnett in tow. Kevin McNally also returns as Sparrow’s first mate and Orlando Bloom himself is also cameoing. Big on spectacle, the budget is over $300 million and directed by Scandinavian mega-blockbuster newbies Renning and Sandberg, who directed the excellent smaller scale seagoing adventure Kontiki, this will hopefully return the piratical franchise to its original salty glory. And there are ghost sharks. Oooooh and indeed arrrrrrrrrr.
Opens May 26