Pirates of the Caribbean Ranking

Last week, I decided to watch all 5 Pirates of the Caribbean movies. These movies are a lot of fun. They have a swashbuckling adventure feel to them, all of the characters are great and the sword fights and ship battles are a lot of fun to watch. Of course, this franchise would be nothing without Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow is one of my favorite movie characters of all time and he brings so much fun to these movies. Finally, the score on these movies is really great and is a part of my all-time favorite movie scores. Overall, this is a fun franchise with standout characters and action. With that being said, here are my ranking and thoughts on the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

5. On Stranger Tides

On Stranger Tides comes in as the weakest of the POTC films. The movie has hardly any characters carryover from the previous films and doesn't have a good character to lead the story. In the other 3 films, the story is led by Will and Elizabeth with Jack as a dominant side character. However, this movie doesn't have that and completely relies on Jack to lead the story. This hurts the film as Jack is meant to be a supporting character, as he is not meant to really grow or change, not the protagonist. He is not written to carry the story on his own. The other characters are not all that compelling either with Blackbeard being a more forgettable villain. Finally, the film is lacking in pirate action as the majority of the film is set on an island. Overall without a compelling protagonist, this film fails to capture the magic of the original 3.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

4. Dead Men Tell No Tales

Unfortunately, the newest pirates film is also one of the weaker ones. This film is a step up from the previous film as it has Henry and Carina as the main protagonists instead of relying on Jack. This film also does some good things with Barbossa, giving him more of a character arc throughout the story. Finally, I felt that the ending closed out the franchise very well and left every with a proper ending to their stories. The thing that keeps this one down is that it just isn't able to capture the magic of the original trilogy. The portrayal of Jack at the beginning of the film really hurts the character as a whole. At the beginning of the film, he is portrayed as extremally drunk and incompetent which is completely different than his character in the other films. It gets better as the film goes on, but the first 30 minutes or so make Jack seem like a spoof of himself. The story itself also doesn't quite reach the height of the original films even though it tries so hard to get there.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

3. At Worlds End

Next on the list is At Worlds End. This film is a significant step up from the lower 2 films as it is the finale of a trilogy. The action in the film is great, especially the final battle on the Flying Dutchman. The villains are also great with Cutler Becket and Davy Jones. The film also does a great job with the character arcs of some of the main characters specifically Elizabeth and Norrington. It was really fun to see Elizabeth's transition from Governor's daughter to full-blown pirate. The film is also able to pay off a lot of moments established throughout all three films. The main issue I have with this film is that the plot gets way too convoluted. The basic premise is fine, with the pirates assembling to fight Becket, but the specific elements get way too complicated. With every character having their own goal and betraying everyone, it gets really hard to keep track of what is actually going on. Overall, this is a good close-out to the trilogy that was kept from being great by convoluted storytelling.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

2. Dead Man's Chest

Coming in 2nd is Dead Man's Chest. This is a great follow-up to the original film. It does a great job of building on the characters of the previous film and shows how the events of that film impact the characters' lives here. The film also showcases Jack actually being able to captain the Black Pearl and how he handles running a ship. It also has a great villain in Davy Jones, who is probably the best villain in the series. The three-way sword fight on the island is also really cool and is probably the best in the series. Finally, the movie has a standout cliffhanger ending that really gets one excited for the sequel. The issue with this one is the same as the sequel which is the storytelling is a bit too convoluted. While it isn't near as bad as At Worlds End, everyone's goals and everyone betraying each other make it really hard to keep track of what is happening. This story was so close to being great, had they just cleaned up the story a bit.

Score: 7,8/10 Grade: B

I. Curse of the Black Pearl

The original film is still the best in the series. The pirate ship battles and swordfights are great. Of course, there is the introduction of Jack Sparrow who is the standout character of the franchise. There is also a great villain in Barbossa and great protagonists in Will and Elizabeth. The supporting characters are also great and several of them steal every scene they are in. The story itself is also fairly straightforward. All of the characters have a singular goal and no one is trying to betray anyone else. The film is also able to balance the scariness of the cursed pirates by making the movie not too frightening for the average moviegoer. Overall, this is just such a fun film and is not just the best in the franchise but probably the best pirate film ever.

Score: 8.2/10 Grade: A-