The Pirates! Band of Misfits User Reviews

Aardman Animation returns to its claymation roots (or at least silicon based structures that resemble clay) with their latest outing, The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Aardman has been known for their quick witted humor, but mainly for their charm that appeals to all ages, and I'm glad to say that Pirates doesn't stray from this. The story behind the movie is just as sweet and simple as the animation itself, the Captain of a crew of pirates (whose name is actually Captain) dreams of winning the Pirate of the Year Award, so he and his crew set out to find riches, and from here they run into Charles Darwin and try to save their pet Dodo, you know, same old same old. This is the kind of creative storytelling that Aardman has always been known for, where it starts off as something that seems fairly sweet and simple, and then takes an odd turn that still makes total sense within the context of the film. These kinds of stories succeed for multiple different reasons, whether it be because of the lighthearted jokes that keep you from ever going "Oh hey wait a minute now," or the loveable characters, or just the flat out great performances, and Pirates has all of them.

You will never believe that's Hugh Grant, even after watching the credits.

Normally I'd wait until the end of a review to start talking about performances, but I'm going to break protocol here because when the credits started rolling on this movie that's all I could think about. Hugh Grant plays Captain, and for everyone out there who heard me say that and instantly thought "oh so this captain is really neurotic and stuttering? Because... you know that's how he's played every character he's ever done." Well first off I disagree with you, Mr Rude, that is not how he has played every character he's ever done... that being said it is how he plays most of his characters, but not this one. Captain is such a loveable, big hardy and cheerful guy, written in a way that makes him so memorable, and a large part of that is due to Hugh Grant just knocking this one out of the park. You could flat out hate Hugh Grant, and after Did You Hear About The Morgans, who would blame you, but you would still love Captain. And that can be said for each character in the film, they're all very memorable and have a wonderful cast playing them, and you could tell that each actor was totally getting into the role because it wasn't until the end when the credits rolled that I went "Holy cow, that's who that was!?" Whether it be Jeremy Piven playing the Captain's chief rival, David Tennant as Charles Darwin, Brendan Gleeson as The Pirate with Gout (actual character's name), or Brian Blessed as the Pirate King... I know, I didn't think Brian Blessed was still working either, how awesome is it to have him back!

The only real complaint I could say that I have with this film, and its not really a complaint honestly, is that it isn't that deep of a film. As I said the movie is very charming, and a lot of that charm comes from just how simple the story is. For example we never really get much depth with the other members of the crew, they're all there pretty much to serve their one joke each. Like there's a pirate in the crew who is very clearly a woman in disguise, and several jokes come up with that, but that's all there is to it, just a joke about her being a woman in disguise and it makes you laugh, and then they move on. But as I said, I can't really call this a complaint because that's kind of the point to the movie. This isn't a movie that after you see it you're going to walk out of it going "wow, that really changed me and there was so much weight in the story." No you'll walk out of it and go "hey that was cute, remember the time this character did that? Yeah that was good." And hey, nothing wrong with having a film like that, just some folks might want a little more out of their films, and their not really going to find it here.

But there's a reason for there not being too much depth, and that's because this isn't like a Pixar or even a Dreamworks animated movie where they try to make something that is just as much for adults and kids alike. This is a movie that is meant for kids, whether it be for literal children or for the child in all of us. I absolutely recommend this movie to anyone out there who has a child, or a little sibling, or just has to babysit for the afternoon. Take them to the theater, get some snacks, and all of you will have a wonderful time. However if you're an adult, unless you just really love goofy lighthearted movies or want to see what these guys can still do with stop motion animation (which is a heck of a lot, there are some moments where they are able to seamlessly blend stop motion and digital animation and its quite impressive) then you might walk away wanting a little bit more than you got. However when this movie comes out on DVD, this to me would be the perfect film to just pick up and spend an afternoon watching and laughing with.