‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” is yet another sequel floating in a sea of Hollywood follow-ups, remakes, reboots and overall unoriginality.

Even the title of this franchise’s fifth film is a mouthful to the point of annoyance. This movie has everything going against it, up to and including Johnny Depp’s personal problems. But if you enjoyed any of the previous films, don’t bother listening to the mainstream critics on this one. The newest “Pirates of the Caribbean” is a blast.

Other reviewers haven’t been kind at all, nor were they to the previous two sequels, “At World’s End” (long, but not bad) and “On Stranger Tides” (just OK). But “Dead Men Tell No Tales” is such a pleasant surprise, it makes one wonder if the critics are just taking turns flogging it like a shanghaied deckhand.

Keep in mind, you’ll have to have seen the previous movies to get the basic plot: Will Turner’s son sets out on a lifelong journey to free his father from the curse of the Flying Dutchman. It ultimately leads him in the direction of a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow, a beautiful astronomer, a murderous crew of ghost pirates and the nautical holy grail of McGuffins: Poseidon’s trident. Oh, and Captain Barbossa. Gotta have Barbossa.

While the movie is quite enjoyable, it’s also clear that it should be the last one, for many reasons. First, the franchise cannot quite recapture the same charm as the first two movies. Second, any and all mystery or unpredictability that once surrounded Captain Jack Sparrow is mostly charted waters by the end of this film. But finally — and this is the film’s strongest aspect — it serves as a satisfying epilogue to the entire franchise, whether that was the intention or not.

Final answers are delivered, certain characters finally redeem themselves, and others finally get what they want after all of this time. The movie is predictable and a bit formulaic. But when you look at the overall story of the franchise and what “Dead Men” delivers, you can be satisfied watching it and feeling like the entire story ended on a high note. Besides, if you’ve seen any Disney movie ever, you know you’re going to these movies for the happy endings.

Almost all of your favorite characters return, even if some are relegated to cameos (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). Newcomers Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) don’t share the same charming chemistry of their predecessors, but they are talented actors who are both individually likable in their own character arcs.

Javier Bardem goes full-blown ham-gnawing villain, and you hope he had as much fun doing it as you are watching it, even if his Captain Salazar isn’t as engrossing a character as he should be. He wants to kill Jack Sparrow for a Rolodex full of vengeful purposes — and once you’ve seen one undead pirate, you’ve seen them all.

Let’s face it: Salazar and his motivations could be swapped out with any of the previous undead pirates that have squared off against Jack Sparrow so far, and you would have the same character and/or template no matter the name or actor. Luckily, all undead predecessors including Salazar have had fantastic actors to bring them personality and life.

There are a few other issues with “Pirates” — a couple of characters who go absolutely nowhere, a couple of pretty open plot holes that you may or may not notice, and a few laughs that are very tacked on. As mentioned, it’s also formulaic, and if you’ve seen the previous entries you know exactly what you’re in for. But the same could be said for the “Fast and the Furious” movies, and most of Disney’s Marvel lineup – and both of those franchises still get plenty of eager butts into theater seats.

“Dead Men Tell No Tales” still puts on a very entertaining show, and it should be a good final voyage for the franchise, whether Disney plans on it or not.

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“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” is currently playing at the Riverside Cinemas, 1017 S. Boone St. in Aberdeen.

George Haerle holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing for media and lives in Cosmopolis.