Film reviews: Latest releases

(Cert 12A, 129 mins)

After a six-year hiatus, the blockbusting Pirates Of The Caribbean series sets sail with two new directors at the helm – Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg – and Johnny Depp swabbing the decks in his familiar guise as salty seadog Jack Sparrow.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge is a marked improvement over its predecessors, At World’s End and On Stranger Tides, anchoring outlandish action to solid performances from two charismatic young actors, Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites.

Twelve-year-old Henry Turner (Lewis McGowan) stows away on the wreck of the Flying Dutchman in order to be reunited with his father Will (Orlando Bloom), who is condemned to serve as captain of the watery vessel for eternity – unless his son can track down the mythical Trident of Poseidon.

Nine years later, Will (now played by Thwaites) searches for the artefact’s whereabouts on the island of St Martin in the Caribbean, where he meets plucky astronomer Carina Smyth (Scodelario), who is labelled a witch because of her love of science. She possesses a diary penned by Galileo Galilei, which contains clues to the hiding place of the Trident.

The duo join forces and unexpectedly cross paths with Jack Sparrow (Depp), on the run from his vengeful adversaries, Captain Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem) and Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).

A little Depp goes a long way in Salazar’s Revenge. He makes merry with his treasure chest of physical pratfalls and continues to ply his comic schtick with wide-eyed gusto.

Action sequences are spectacular, including the hysterically overblown theft of a bank safe and a dizzying dance of death between Jack and a guillotine blade.

But it’s not all plain sailing.The return of Will Turner (Bloom) and another original character is misjudged, a central plot thread is disappointingly similar to another summer blockbuster, and the 129-minute running time feels excessive.

A superfluous cameo for Paul McCartney also should have walked the plank.

Overall, Ronning and Sandberg navigate a largely entertaining course between eye-popping spectacle and family feuds.

Their film is advertised as the “final” adventure and it would be sensible to drop the mainsail here while the series is still buoyant.

The villainous Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), left, pursues his nemesis, Jack Sparrow.