PLOT - Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is in a race to find the legendary "Trident of Poseidon," before his nemesis, Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), who has escaped from "The Devil's Triangle," finds him. In addition to his crew, Sparrow has two prisoners who could be the key to helping him. Carina Smyth ( Kaya Scodelario) is an astronomer, who is escaping punishment for practicing science, which is considered witchcraft. Carina believes that the map to the Trident is held in the stars and is guided by a book left by her father, whom she has never met. Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) is the son of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Henry is determined to find the Trident and free his father from a pirate's curse. Will Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew be able to find the Trident while evading the British army and Captain Salazar's ghost pirates?

LIKE - Confession time...I saw the very first Pirate's film - Curse of the Black Pearl and enjoyed it, but I did not at all enjoy the second Pirate's film- Dead Man's Chest. It was so awful, that I have not seen any of the other films in the franchise, until now. Although I could follow most of this film, it would have been helpful to have seen the others in the franchise. I had questions. For example, how did Will Turner wind up with a pirates curse? Will and Elizabeth have an adult son now? The series had really progressed.

Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, brought back my faith in the franchise. Bruckheimer didn't direct, but he is a producer, and as is typical with a Bruckheimer film, this was a non-stop action fest. I never got comfortable in my seat, because I was always tense from the action.

My main take-away was how much fun it must be to dream up these films. Like the Fast & Furious franchise, it seems that with Pirates, the budget is so sky-high, that if the writers dream it, they figure out a way to shoot it. One of the early scenes has an entire building been dragged by horses through the port town of St. Martin. The set, costumes, special effects...every single thing is elaborate and grand. 

My favorite scene involved ghost sharks. You heard it right, ghost sharks! There was also a very creative and funny sequence where Captain Jack escapes a guillotine. Sir Paul McCartney has a fabulous cameo as Jack's uncle and fellow prisoner of the British army.

DISLIKE- I wasn't so sure about the big climactic moment of the film. I think it's because I felt that every other element of Dead Me Tell No Tales was more entertaining than the parts that involved the Trident. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is highly entertaining. It's the perfect summer, escapism type of film. I would recommend watching the earlier films in the franchise to be caught up. Also, stay until the end of the credits for a bonus scene.