The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been going on for close to 15 years. It has produced five movies and countless games and books. Even though the previous four movies have been uneven (some excellent, some decent, and some not as good) the music in the movies is consistently great.  collaborated on the score for Curse of the Black Pearl and Zimmer took sole control of the other three scores. This time, it’s up to Geoff Zanelli, one of Zimmer’s proteges, to compose the themes and melodies to accompany Dead Men Tell No Tales. So how did he do?

Listening to the new movie’s score is like listening to a compilation of the first trilogy’s best themes. Zanelli did a fine job weaving the old familiar notes with some new stuff of his own, but ultimately he plays it safe. Even though I love those themes, I yearn for something like On Stranger Tides’ score where Zimmer really incorporated Spanish music to breathe new life into the eight year old franchise. It’s now 14 years old and Zanelli seems to be running on fumes more than creating something original. The lack of any Spanish flavor to the music is especially striking when you consider Captain Salazar’s presence. But, there’s simply nothing as different as this or this.

That being said, the new score weaves the themes we know together and adds some new sounds to represent the new, younger characters. If you go see the movie and like the music, by all means get the soundtrack! You can find it on Amazon. If you’re having doubts, however, I’d recommend just making a playlist of your favorite tracks from the previous soundtracks. If there’s any more movies in the franchise and Zanelli returns, I hope he’s given the freedom and confidence needed to create something wholly original. These movies need it.

What did you think of the music? What are some of your favorite tracks from the franchise history? Did you enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Edited by: Hannah Wilkes