I liked the first one, but the franchise went from unique to stale after that. Surely, Johnny Depp can find better things to do.
I know that is the general consensus among most movie viewers. For me, when I watched the first, sure, I liked Johnny Depp's character. Yet, most of its jokes just didn't work for me. The second one, well, it often felt excessively drawn out and could use some editing. Yet, more of the humor worked for me. So, overall, I'd say I liked the second one better. Never saw 3 or 4. No interest in seeing 5. Not anymore anyway. The trailer actually looked good. And a couple of early reviews I saw were mostly positive. So, I though, well, maybe I'll see it. But now that consensus is that it is even worse than before, I'll pass.
As far as Depp finding better things to do.... well, I certainly remember the day when he eschewed "blockbuster" type movies, wanting to be more of an "artist". Ancient history now, eh? It seems he has gotten addicted to an extravagant lifestyle that would have made Michael Jackson say, "reel it back a notch, dude". Meanwhile, moviegoers seem to have gotten tired of his shtick. And Pirates will surely have lower box-office than previous installments. It has grown tired. And yet, I suspect, he can still get a bigger paycheck doing more Pirates than about anything else. So, expect more Pirates movies...
