The Pirates! Band of Misfits

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The Pirates! Band of Misfits

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The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton

In The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain - a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the Hig... read more read more...h Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It's a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! -- (C) Sony

Id: 11150427

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The Pirates! Band of Misfits Recent Reviews
  • fb100001581602053
    May 11, 2012
    fb100001581602053
    Tries to go for the Monty Python approach to humor (broad, irreverent silliness) but isn't nearly quick or witty enough to even compare. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is my least favorite of the Aardman Films, but it's terrific soundtrack, animation, and handful of genuinely fun... read moreny gags suffice for a family viewing in the living room.
  • skeletonking101
    May 10, 2012
    skeletonking101
    Though this may not be one of Aardmans best film, the animation is incredible, the humor is decent and the acting is very well done.
  • mumby1988
    May 4, 2012
    mumby1988
    Film critics often get it in the neck for overanalysing or expecting too much from films which, for some people, are designed only to entertain. While expecting nothing other than fun from the movies will prevent one from properly exploring all that the medium has to offer, it is... read more also true that reviewers have to keep their feet on the ground. Every so often we have to defend a film mainly because we enjoyed ourselves - and, ironically, the simplest pleasures are often the hardest to explain.

    The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists! is a good example of this phenomenon. On the surface there is nothing especially remarkable about it, either in the quality of the animation we have come to expect from Aardman, or in the conventional nature of its story. If one was in a bad mood, it would not take too long to dismantle the film, with withering comments about it not being first-rate Aardman. But the fact is that, after seeing this film, you're very unlikely to be in a bad mood.

    The Pirates! (as it will hereafter be called) marks an interesting turning point in Aardman's history, at least from a technical viewpoint. Along with their previous digimation, Arthur Christmas, it marks the beginning of a partnership with Sony Pictures Animation, who three years ago produced the hilariously surreal Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This is significant due to the combination of traditional stop-motion and CG effects needed to bring the film to life.

    When Aardman was creating Flushed Away, working in partnership with Dreamworks, a decision was taken early on to do the entire film in digimation, on account of how difficult water is to film and the damage it can do to plasticene. But for all its moments of charm, Flushed Away felt like Dreamworks had run roughshod over Aardman's creativity, reducing true genius into something a lot more ordinary.

    Being set primarily at sea, The Pirates! involves a large amount of visual effects to create the water and the skyline around the stop-motion figures. But while Aardman and Dreamworks were constantly at loggerheads, on this occasion the effects blend beautifully, with the hand-crafted characters taking centre stage even in the most elaborate set-pieces. Aardman's strength has always been in stop-motion, and here they are allowed to work to their strengths.

    As always with Aardman, the devil is in the detail. Their films are made by people who love cinema, pouring in references to films from their formative years to enrich the finished product. You won't spot all the sight gags, quirks and puns the first time round, but more importantly the story and characters are enjoyable enough to make you want to revisit them. The hearty laughs that do stick in one's mind, whether it's the fish-in-a-hat gag or the ship leaving red markers on the map, are almost like teasers in themselves, part of a gift that just keeps on giving.

    The film has great set-pieces which rival anything in either Chicken Run (Peter Lord's previous film) or Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The rooftop chase, in which Charles Darwin attempts to steal the last living dodo, builds like an old-fashioned 1980s action set-piece, using the full spread of the house to maximum effect. The sequence of the bath careering down the stairs is like an extended version of the boulder chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and there is a brief nod to Jurassic Park as the bath leaps majestically through an enormous skeleton.

    While Curse of the Were-Rabbit was rooted in horror movies, paying homage to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Hammer movies and An American Werewolf in London, The Pirates! is grounded in the old-fashioned adventure of Errol Flynn and Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers. The action sequences feel like they have been choreographed to allow for the fewest number of edits, with Lord and his animators understanding that audiences are often more impressed by the scale of a battle than the pace as which it appears to unfold.

    The release of The Pirates! internationally has not been without mishap. Aardman received a complaint from Lepra Health in Action, requesting that a scene of a leper's arm falling off be removed for misrepresenting victims of leprosy. More worryingly, in America the title was changed to The Pirates! Band of Misfits!. While film titles are commonly changed, this is symptomatic of marketers having low opinions of a film's potential audience. It is ludicrous to believe that the world 'scientist' would put Americans off seeing the film. It certainly doesn't change the relatively heroic role accorded to Charles Darwin.

    The characters in The Pirates! continue the Aardman tradition created by Nick Park of the inept but extremely confident protagonist. The Pirate Captain is fully aware of the motley nature of his crew, observing in one of the film's best sight gags that some of his crew are just "fish that I've dressed up in a hat." But he is as confident in his ability to plunder as Wallace is in his inventions. Martin Freeman's first mate acts as a Gromit-like foil, trying to do the right thing while harbouring a sense of duty towards his oldest friend.

    The biggest criticism of The Pirates! has been its storyline. Because it combines two of Gideon Dafoe's children's books, there is a lot of plot to get through in 90-odd minutes. And because the film is not a direct pastiche like Curse of the Were-Rabbit, it doesn't have quite as rigid a structure as one might like. But some critics would go further and claim that its emotional arc is too predictable, with our heroes jumping through narrative hoops without offering anything new.

    There's an old adage that the difference between a convention and a cliché is the emotional response that surrounds it: if we are enjoying ourselves, it's a convention, and if not, it's a cliché. The fact is, even if The Pirates! is in familiar waters, it is funnier and more lovingly crafted than any of the similar stories which clog up our multiplexes in the summer season. We should not take Aardman's craftsmanship for granted, and must be willing to promote this genuine passion for craft almost in spite of its familiar elements.

    The film passes the acid test of any comedy, never letting up in its ability to make you laugh. The running gags surrounding the Pirate Captain's boarding parties are very well thought-out, as are the crew's disguises and the numerous map scenes. The more whimsical jokes, involving baby clothes, baboon's kidneys and ham night, are all first-rate Aardman, and Peter Lord's comic timing is on a par with Nick Park's in judging where and when to play every single gag..

    The cast of The Pirates! is also of a high standard. Hugh Grant, in his first animated role, handles the Pirate Campaign with such aplomb that afterwards you won't be able to imagine him without that beard. Imelda Staunton is terrific as Queen Victoria, with a performance that makes her character in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix look tame by comparison. David Tennant and Martin Freeman provide great support in their respective roles, with the former's geeky excitability offsetting the latter's world-weariness. And as for Brian Blessed's cameo... suffice to say, no-one else could have played that part.

    The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists! is a really great family film which will hold up to repeat viewing every bit as well as Aardman's previous offerings. Peter Lord directs superbly, handling a talented cast with near-perfect measure and blending the stop-motion and CGI very well. While it's not quite perfect, it bodes well for the future of Aardman, with or without Wallace and Gromit. Thoroughly recommended.
  • fb733768972
    May 2, 2012
    fb733768972
    "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" may not live up to my expectations, but I walked out of this film with a smile on my face and much appreciation towards the directors for putting so much hard work into the claymation. The claymation truly shows, you absolutely know that you are wat... read moreching one, and that is part of the reason why the film is unique. I have been a huge fan of earlier claymation films, such as Chicken Run, and although this film is very good it does for some reason, feel a bit longer than it's actual running time. There is too much bickering between whether the characters should just talk or start a pirate war for the pirate captain of the year award. Overall, the visuals are very impressive and the characters are loveable, but the story is basic and the jokes only work some of the time. Still, it is a great time at the movies!
  • moonrivers
    May 1, 2012
    moonrivers
    A nice time for the children, plenty of throwaway comic asides for the parents that can hold their interest and, of course, the wonderful animation of the wildly creative Aardman Studios. The vocal characterizations are smoothly apropos, too, as an also ran pirate captain tries ... read moreto win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award against a heavy field of sniggering contenders.
  • aquateen2
    April 29, 2012
    aquateen2
    [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img]

    A perfectly executed family film that sucessfully manages to be smart rather than edgy. The teriffic voice acting, eye popping set pieces and quality animation doesn't need to be in 3D to still be enjoya... read moreble. The chase scenes are inspired and cleverly crafted and despite there being only a few laugh out loud moments, The Pirates had me smiling and swashbuckling all the way through because of that classic Aardman charm we've all come to expect, know and love.
  • DrZeek
    April 28, 2012
    DrZeek
    Pirate Captain: Behind every captain, there's a crew. Sure, some of you are as ugly as a sea cucumber, some of you are closer to being a chair or coat rack than a pirate, and some of you are fish I've just dressed up in a hat...

    I will just start by not apologizing for my title,... read more as I will easily sacrifice spelling for the sake of alliteration. With that out of the way, I think it is wonderful to see a new stop-animation motion picture from Aardman Animations. Being one who is a big fan of Wallace & Gromit, I was thrilled to be going back into a world of very specific character designs and some dry British humor. 'Pirates!' did manage to deliver quite a bit in that regard, even if it was a bit different from what I was expecting. Regardless, with plenty of jokes that range from subtle to off-kilter and an inherent level of sweetness that is always seen in Aardman Animations, The Pirates! A Band of Misfits is a fun take on a swashbuckling story and it has a great look to it.

    read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
  • CreedsDelight
    April 27, 2012
    CreedsDelight
    Pirate Captain: Fire all things that go bang!

    In my humble opinion, claymation is the best form of animation. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a mixed bag. I found a good amount of the film to be charming, witty, and incredibly funny. However, there is a reasonable amount of hit-... read moremiss comedy included. What elevates the film is the stellar voice cast boasting the likes of Brendan Gleeson, David Tennant, and Salma Hayek - but the real standout here is Hugh Grant as The Pirate Captain. Another wonderful aspect is the superb claymation animation, which never ceases to amaze me. Even though The Pirates! did not totally satisfy me, I can confidently say that it was a nice little film, which will satisfy kids and adults alike.

    Read the whole review at creedsdelight.com
  • fb100001592288964
    April 27, 2012
    fb100001592288964
    Coming from a huge Aardman fan, the final product is slightly disappointing, but The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a still a stunning craft in stop-motion animation, and also thrives off of its talented voice cast and smart British wit.
  • c0up
    April 21, 2012
    c0up
    'The Pirates! Band of Misfits'. Gorgeous stop-motion animation and overflowing with that most British of subtle humour!
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