After growing up with the franchise, 27-year-old Australian actor Brenton Thwaites is the latest new cast member joining the Pirates of the Caribbean gang. In Dead Men Tell No Tales, he plays the son of Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). So to prepare for the role, he rewatched all four movies.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

"I remember seeing the first one when I was a teenager," Thwaites says. "And I've been a fan of the franchise ever since, so it's good to be a part of one! I think it's popular because of the freedom. It's a fantasy to just get a boat and sail out into the ocean. Pirates don't have rules."

Continue reading: Brenton Thwaites Enjoyed Johnny Depp's Irreverent Approach

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review

Weak

Subtitled Salazar's Revenge in the UK, this fifth film in the long-running series never quite gets its sea legs. With a waterlogged script and a startlingly murky production design, this is the first movie in the franchise that lacks a sense of swashbuckling merriment. It's lively enough to keep the audience watching, but it never quite makes any sense because any sensible details are lost amid the chaotic action sequences.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

It opens with Henry (Brenton Thwaites), son of franchise veterans Will and Elizabeth (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley in cameos), who is on a quest to free his father from his watery imprisonment. For this he needs Poseidon's trident, which only Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) can find with his magical compass. Except that Jack has swapped the compass to buy some whiskey. Then Will meets the feisty Carina (Kaya Scodelario), who's star-reading skills will come in handy. But the vengeful Salazar (Javier Bardem) is also after the compass and the trident, hoping to reverse his own ghostly curse. And as things heat up, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) dives into the pursuit as well.

What follows is a series of set-pieces in which these various factions scuffle for control of people and artefacts that can lead them in their quests for power. They all talk incessantly about the elaborately complex mythology, but it never makes any sense why each person knows only fragments of the lore. And it's also not easy to hear what they're shouting amid the general chaos of yet another epically choreographed fight scene. Thankfully, the actors are hammy enough to stand out from the sea of digital effects that fill the screen.

Continue reading: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review

Brenton Thwaites Has Always Been A 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' Fan

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 22 May 2017

Brenton Thwaites

'Pirates of the Caribbean' is an exciting new career development for Brenton Thwaites.

There can't be anything more thrilling than getting to be involved in a movie project that you have been a fan of from the very beginning, and for Brenton Thwaites, getting to star in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' was a dream come true.

Brenton Thwaites stars in 'Dead Men Tell No Tales'

Brenton Thwaites plays Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner's (Orlando Bloom) now grown up son Henry Turner in the new film - which is apparently set many years after we first get a glimpse of the character at end of the second movie 'At World's End', released in 2007.

Continue reading: Brenton Thwaites Has Always Been A 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' Fan

Pirates Of The Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Salazar's Revenge) - Featurette and Trailer

It seems Captain Jack Sparrow has been sailing the seas as a pirate for many, many years, and in that time he's made a lot of enemies. As a young trouble-maker, he damned a pirate-hating adversary and his crew to a seabound immortality - and now Captain Salazar has returned to exact his revenge. Panic is afoot when it becomes clear that Captain Salazar has escaped his eternal torment at the bottom of the Devil's Triangle, and as much as Jack loves an adventure almost as much as he loves rum, this time he could truly be out of his depth. It will take more than his trusty compass to help him this time, but thankfully he has the help of a new headstrong maiden named Carina Smyth who happens to be a skilled astronomer, plus the return of his old friend Will Turner. Together they must uncover the Trident of Poseidon before Salazar does, and send the enemy back to their watery graves.

Continue: Pirates Of The Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Salazar's Revenge) - Featurette and Trailer

Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales Trailer

Forget Davy Jones' Locker and the Fountain of Youth, Captain Jack Sparrow is on an all new quest as he embarks on the hunt for the fabled trident of Poseidon. It may sound like he's set his sights far too high this time, but he's never failed the crew of the Black Pearl yet - and he really could do with a windfall right about now. To make matters worse, Capitan Salazar is back from the Devil's Triangle with his ghostly crew, and the trident is his only hope of stopping them. This time he's got the help of his old friend Will Turner, who is apparently free of his binding contract with The Flying Dutchman.

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Brenton Thwaites at the fifth annual Australians In Film Award Gala held at NeueHouse Hollywood - Los Angeles, California, United States - Thursday 20th October 2016

Gods Of Egypt Trailer

When Set brutally murderers his brother, Osiris the great deities of ancient Egypt are upset, non-more so than his wife Isis. Piecing her husband - and fellow god - Osiris back together, she manages to resurrect him for long enough to conceive Horus. So begins a lifetime of battles for the Kingdom.

Set, the brother of Osiris and god of storms, disorder and violence on one side and Horus, the son of Osiris on the other. When Set and Horus go head to head in combat, the mortal citizens of Egypt hope for one victor (Horus) but in a moment of weakness, Set makes his move and steals the eyes of Horus.

Soon after the downfall of Horus, Set takes over Egypt and enslaves the mortals, knowning there's little hope of being saved, one mortal hero decides to help steal the eyes of Horus back in order to gain the trust of the cast out god. To take the kingdom back (and save Bek's love), he and Horus face vast armies of mortals and immortal demons cast under Set's spell.

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That Sugar Film Trailer

With a baby on the way, Damon Gameau has decided to experiment with just how bad the supposedly 'healthy' food of the world is for the general public. Having given up sugar entirely a few years ago, Gameau knew that it wasn't likely that his children would do the same thing. This led to the experiment - Gameau won't eat the known 'bad foods' like chocolate, ice cream or soft drinks, but goes for all the food considered to be healthy for people to eat. As his own weight begins to grow over the course of just three weeks, he knows that his child is going to be born into a dangerous world, where obesity is just another factor of life. But does it have to be?

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Son Of A Gun Review

By Rich Cline

Very Good

This may not be the brightest thriller in the cinema, but it's made with such a ripping sense of energy that it's thoroughly entertaining. With his first feature, Australian filmmaker Julius Avery packs the screen with intense characters, raucous set-pieces and suggestions of all kinds of metaphorical meaning. He also assembles a terrific cast of actors willing to chomp merrily on the scenery. So even if the movie never actually cracks the surface, it's a true guilty pleasure.

Set in Western Australia, the film centres on 19-year-old JR (Brenton Thwaites), who begins a six-month stint in prison with a determination to rise to the top. His bravado nearly gets him killed, but he boldly aligns himself with notorious criminal Brendan (Ewan McGregor), and in exchange for protection inside JR agrees to help Brendan from the outside. Sure enough, in six months Brendan launches an audacious prison break, after which he and Brendan get to work with dodgy mobster Sam (Jacek Koman) on an even more elaborate gold heist. JR is loving the gangster lifestyle but still refuses to follow the rules, which puts him on a collision course with Sam as he openly flirts with Sam's prized moll Tasha (Alicia Vikander). Now JR thinks he can steal Tasha, ditch Brendan and get away with the gold. As if.

Yes, the film is a web of double-crosses and betrayals, none of which is much of a surprise. All of the final act's twists and turns are loudly announced early on, as are the strained metaphors of chess-playing criminals and father-son mentoring. Avery's script and direction constantly suggest that nothing is what it seems, although it's hard not to see what's really going on. But what's on-screen is so much fun that we don't mind at all. Thwaites, McGregor, Vikander and Koman all have a great time playing with our expectations. Each character is cocky and sure that they're in control, when it's clear that they're not. And the sparks between them make each scene sizzle.

Continue reading: Son Of A Gun Review

Son Of A Gun Trailer

A young man, JR (Brendan Thwaites) is only 19-years-old when he finds himself in an Australian prison. There, he comes under the protection of Australia's Public Enemy number one, Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor). In exchange for not being ganged up on or killed in prison, JR is going to have to help Lynch as soon as he is released from prison. This begins with a daring rescue attempt to break Lynch out, and then moves into a plot to steal a vast amount of gold. When JR's attention is diverted, Lynch reveals that their partnership may, in fact, be coming to an end.

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Son Of A Gun - Clips

JR (Brendan Thwaites) is receiving a lesson from his protector, Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor) over a game of chess. Lynch reveals that when an old friend of his performed a stunning opening movie during a game, no one knew what hit them. This move in particular was a bold one, and ensured that there would be no draw in the game from that start. Lynch revealed the true meaning of the lesson - there were to be no half measures. Later, JR wakes up in the house of his protectors, knowing that they are going to be angry after a date he went on. When he reveals that all he did was have dinner with a girl, Lynch informs him how if anything had gone on, an associate would have killed both JR and the girl. There are no half measures; if you are in the group, you are IN the group.

'Son of a Gun' is the feature debut of director Julius Avery. The film is set in and was filmed in Australia, and premiered in Australia on 16th October 2014. It is due to be released in the US on 16th January 2015, with a UK release following on 30th January.