Though Jack Sparrow is by now a role that should be reprised only for Hollywood Boulevard photo ops, Johnny Depp is nonetheless back in eyeliner and slightly more adornments than usual for another run at the character in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
In this trailer for what’s somehow the fifth Pirates, the film is touted as “the final adventure” even as everything else paints it as a soft reboot to sustain the franchise for yet another 15 years. Returning to what made the earlier chapters work, now the supporting cast again features an unbelievably pretty young couple (now Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites, though Orlando Bloom also shows up in an apparent passing of the messy ponytail). In echoes of Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones, there’s also again a villain whose CGI-covered head will easily be the most acclaimed part of this thing. This time it’s Javier Bardem’s Armando Salazar, an undead captain who has the face of a cracked-up porcelain doll and hair that’s perpetually flowing like it’s underwater. He blames Sparrow for cursing him with such eternally damp hair, and he won’t rest until he’s given Depp’s theme park automaton impression at least a couple decent action set pieces. How lucky for us!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will, unfortunately, make “Jack Sparrow” a relevant Halloween costume again when it hits theaters May 26.
