The Pirates!: Band of Misfits
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
After 20 yrs. of humiliation & failed attempts to win the sought-after Pirate of the Year Award ... an enthusiastic, yet less-than-successful Pirate by the name of Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) & his rag-tag, yet mild-mannered crew take on the cream of the pirating world - bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven), Peg Leg Hastings (Lenny Henry), & Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) - in a race to pillage the most booty in 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' (a clay stop-motion animated film directed by Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt). Hoping to impress The Pirate King (Brian Blessed) and win the award, Pirate Captain & his crew set out on their quest, arrive on exotic Blood Island, & cross paths with famed scientist Charles Darwin (David Tennant).
While there, Darwin persuades the Pirate Captain that his parrot, Polly, could actually be the ne'er-before-seen Dodo bird, & be the answer to the untold riches they seek. Their adventure takes them to the foggy, lamp lit streets of Victorian London where they meet Darwin's hilarious sidekick 'Man-panzee', & the notorious pirate-hatin' Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton). It soon unfolds that Darwin's motives for helping Pirate Captain are not what they initially seemed, & the Queen has an evil secret agenda of her own. So Pirate Captain must choose btwn. basking in Pirate of the Year glory, or staying faithful to his trusted, ever-loyal crew.
Though '...Band of Misfits' is a pirate flick, there's probably more scalawag humor in the film than actual action/adventure. And the humor comes at us in 2 differing ways: 1) there's a treasure trove of broad laughs for kids to get a kick out of. And 2) there's the dry, droll, pop culture-referenced humor that adults should lap up. Put them together & you've got a pretty winning combo. One of my favorite bits occurs early when the Pirate Captain attacks various ships looking for gold, only to find that those vessels may be ghost ships or even plagued with lepers. I know, I know. I shouldn't laugh. But in the context of the situation, it's just damn funny. I also loved how genuinely excited Pirate Captain's crew gets when they realize that it's "Ham Night" aboard their ship.
Aardman is the name of the British production team which creates these clay-animated films. They specialize in the stop-motion technique that has worked so well for such successful films like Chicken Run & Wallace & Gromit. Not only is the animation great to look at (it POPS, and 3D glasses shouldn't be necessary; though, of course, this film is offered in 3D viewing - ugh), but the Aardman team also infuses that wonderful satirical wit into the script. You just don't see enough of that in American studios (Pixar/Disney, Dreamworks). Don't get me wrong, those studios are amazing. I just like the variance that Aardman offers. I mean, how can you not chuckle at the idea of Queen Victoria being a super-b*tch and Darwin being a lovelorn, hapless twit? {haha}
You know, I wonder if '... Band of Misfits' arrives at a time when pirate fatigue could be setting in. That's unfortunate for a film like this; that actually has more fun to show for it in 10 minutes than most of the last Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, some of the action scenes aren't as thrilling or swashbuckling or inventive as you'd have hoped for. This is not a Beauty & the Beast, Wall-E, or even a Rango (from last year). But 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' is still a cute, lightweight movie that breezes along swimmingly. When there isn't madcap action gracing your screen, there's sure to be a smart, poke-fun joke occurring every 15 seconds, or so.
While there, Darwin persuades the Pirate Captain that his parrot, Polly, could actually be the ne'er-before-seen Dodo bird, & be the answer to the untold riches they seek. Their adventure takes them to the foggy, lamp lit streets of Victorian London where they meet Darwin's hilarious sidekick 'Man-panzee', & the notorious pirate-hatin' Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton). It soon unfolds that Darwin's motives for helping Pirate Captain are not what they initially seemed, & the Queen has an evil secret agenda of her own. So Pirate Captain must choose btwn. basking in Pirate of the Year glory, or staying faithful to his trusted, ever-loyal crew.
Though '...Band of Misfits' is a pirate flick, there's probably more scalawag humor in the film than actual action/adventure. And the humor comes at us in 2 differing ways: 1) there's a treasure trove of broad laughs for kids to get a kick out of. And 2) there's the dry, droll, pop culture-referenced humor that adults should lap up. Put them together & you've got a pretty winning combo. One of my favorite bits occurs early when the Pirate Captain attacks various ships looking for gold, only to find that those vessels may be ghost ships or even plagued with lepers. I know, I know. I shouldn't laugh. But in the context of the situation, it's just damn funny. I also loved how genuinely excited Pirate Captain's crew gets when they realize that it's "Ham Night" aboard their ship.
Aardman is the name of the British production team which creates these clay-animated films. They specialize in the stop-motion technique that has worked so well for such successful films like Chicken Run & Wallace & Gromit. Not only is the animation great to look at (it POPS, and 3D glasses shouldn't be necessary; though, of course, this film is offered in 3D viewing - ugh), but the Aardman team also infuses that wonderful satirical wit into the script. You just don't see enough of that in American studios (Pixar/Disney, Dreamworks). Don't get me wrong, those studios are amazing. I just like the variance that Aardman offers. I mean, how can you not chuckle at the idea of Queen Victoria being a super-b*tch and Darwin being a lovelorn, hapless twit? {haha}
You know, I wonder if '... Band of Misfits' arrives at a time when pirate fatigue could be setting in. That's unfortunate for a film like this; that actually has more fun to show for it in 10 minutes than most of the last Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, some of the action scenes aren't as thrilling or swashbuckling or inventive as you'd have hoped for. This is not a Beauty & the Beast, Wall-E, or even a Rango (from last year). But 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' is still a cute, lightweight movie that breezes along swimmingly. When there isn't madcap action gracing your screen, there's sure to be a smart, poke-fun joke occurring every 15 seconds, or so.