Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales

Pirates of the CARIBBEAN: Dead Men Tell no Tales
Geoff Zanelli

5/26/17

That's about as close as this one is ever going to get to the color of a gold statue.

What You Will Hear: Standard Remote Control sound.

Standout Tracks: Beyond My Beloved Horizon

Will You Be Humming Along? You’ll recognize a very light dusting of work from Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer. Salazar (and maybe Jack Sparrow's new accomplices?) have some new motifs.

The album this makes me want to dust off: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Hans Zimmer (but really going back for Rodrigo y Gabriella)

Will I come back to it? No. Listen, I’m not one of those Zimmer-haters. Many believe he’s dumbed film music down, and there is a lot of evidence to support that claim. But, in the end, I always ask myself one question: has he written a lot of enjoyable music? YES. So, I generally stay out of that debate. But, when he or one of his team are at their most mindless, we get music like Dead Men Tell No Tales. Every action track sounds like every other action track. Every “epic” moment sounds like every other… well, you get it. Take Salazar’s theme. The first time you hear it, it’s kind of fun. And then you realize there is nothing unique or interesting about it. The only reason you were drawn to it in the first place is because it is a character theme that stands out amidst a sea of thoughtless content.
In the end, I just couldn’t wait to put this one behind me. The entire series has never been intriguing to me, but this one is a whole different level of uninteresting.