The Pirates! Band of Misfits [G]

With Queen Victoria on the throne, the high seas are practically ruled by England, with only one thing that stands in the way: pirates. Amongst the most feared and notorious pirates is the Pirate Captain who dreams of winning the Pirate of the Year Award. Unfortunately he’s not all that good at pirating and has constantly been outshone year in and year out. But, this year the Pirate Captain discovers that his faithful parrot, Polly, is actually the very last Dodo and as such is worth untold riches. Unfortunately, someone else is interested in gaining the rewards that come with Polly… a young scientist by the name of Charles Darwin. 

Being the new movie from Aardman who brought us Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, I was really eager to see The Pirates! Band of Misfits for that fact alone. I’ll grant that the movie is a good family one, peppered with visual and intellectual jokes for both the junior and senior audience, but ultimately I was a bit disappointed in this movie. 

With Queen Victoria on the throne, the high seas are practically ruled by England, with only on thing that stands in the way: pirates. Amongst the most feared and notorious pirates is the Pirate Captain who dreams of winning the Pirate of the Year Award. Unfortunately he’s not all that good at pirating and has constantly been outshone year in and year out. But, this year the Pirate Captain discovers that his faithful parrot, Polly, is in fact the very last Dodo and, as such, uncommonly rare and worth untold riches. So the Pirate Captain decides to collect the reward for Best Discovery from the annual Scientist of the Year Award, claim it as booty, and win the Pirate of the Year Award. Unfortunately, there is someone else who intends to claim the reward for the discovery of Polly… a young scientist by the name of Charles Darwin. 

The clever and witty humour of an Aardman movie is still there, but I think what brought this movie down was the fact that the story was somewhat predictable and it was very haphazardly thrown together. It begins funnily and competitively, then develops the plan to achieve the goal, and then a more emotional and dramatic story takes over. Until it got to the emotional climax of the movie, the entire film just felt uncertain and shaky, as though it was learning to walk. 

To give it its dues, it did gain some solidity towards the lead up to the climax, but that still meant that for almost half the film it wasn’t really sure about where it was going. 

Featuring the voice talents of Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Salma Hayek, Lenny Henry, Jeremy Piven, Brian Blessed, and Brendan Gleeson, The Pirates! Band of Misfits was a fun family film, but not one that I would watch again in a hurry and certainly not one that will make it into the collection. Filled with friendship, loyalty, treasure, swashbuckling action, memorable characters, and comedy, it was not without its moments.