Although the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel had a lot of issues, 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales featured one scene that acknowledged the disappointment some fans felt about Jack Sparrow’s character arc. When he was introduced in 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl, Johnny Depp’s irreplaceable antihero Jack Sparrow seemed unable to do any wrong. Fans loved the scene-stealing amoral figure and immediately wanted more from him, prompting the movie’s sequels to focus more on Jack and ensure Depp’s character received more screen time.
However, this decision turned out to be both a blessing and a curse for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. While the first two sequels, Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, gave Jack Sparrow more screen time and stretched the patience of critics as a result, the fourth and fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movies took this gambit too far. Replacing Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom to make Depp the sole star of the series, On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales earned the ire of both reviewers and fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
However, even though the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie Dead Men Tell No Tales is broadly perceived as the weakest entry in the series, the sequel did address common complaints some fans had about Jack Sparrow. It wasn’t enough to save the blockbuster, but an early scene in the 2017 sequel saw the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie acknowledge the fact that many viewers were let down by the franchise’s inability to let Jack Sparrow change, mature, or grow from movie to movie. When Jack’s crew complain that they won’t follow a caption without a ship, he tries to remind them of fun past treasure hunts. Even his most loyal followers dismiss these as pointless misadventures that led to worthless “treasure”. The scene plays out like many critical complaints about the Pirates of the Caribbean series sequels, which are often criticized for being overly complicated and generally lacking story momentum.
Ironically, despite this scene taking place early on in the action of Dead Men Tell No Tales (shortly after the opening action sequence), the sequel proceeds to repeat exactly the same issue that Jack’s shipmates bemoan. The plot is both complicated and ultimately largely pointless, leaving many of the lead characters (save for Barbossa) in the same place they started. The sequel’s story also fails to make a satisfying connection between Dead Men Tell No Tales and the original trilogy despite featuring Elizabeth and Will’s son in a major role, and continues the franchise’s failure to explain Jack Sparrow’s (brilliant) missing backstory.
As a result, it is hard to take the scene seriously when the supporting stars of the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie complain about Jack’s lack of momentum, since the movie fails to provide anything much in the way of character growth or change for Depp’s antihero. Real-life events have ensured in the years since that the outing may well be Depp’s last movie in the role, and the Worst Actor nomination the actor received proves this may not be a bad thing. There is still plenty of potential in the story of Depp’s roguish captain, as proven by the fact that, across five movies, Jack Sparrow had almost no love interests. However, any Pirates of the Caribbean movie trying to tell his story will need to do better than the controversial efforts of Dead Men Tell No Tales in order to court back lapsed viewers.