The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

From the people who made Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, The Pirates! Band of Misfits is one of the five animated films nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Academy Awards.

This film tells the story of Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant), the leader of a group of the strangest “pirates” you’ll ever see. He yearns to be named “Pirate of the Year” in the annual awards ceremony, but he just doesn’t quite measure up to the other booty-gathering pirates he competes against. Setting sail with his crew and his trusted bird Polly, Pirate Captain attempts to plunder ships for gold with no luck, succeeding only in capturing Charles Darwin (David Tennant). Darwin, recognizing that Polly is in fact the last living dodo, convinces Pirate Captain to travel to England, where a science competition will bring him the treasure he needs to win the Pirate of the Year award.

Pirates is filled with references to modern-day items or situations, such as the idea of reversing a boat into a dock like a car, Pirate Captain sipping out of a “World’s Best Captain” mug, or even the cannonballs being treated like a classic arcade skee-ball game. There is even a scene that involves elevator music and references to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (or the film that borrowed it from that, The Shining) with “Heeeeeere’s Polly!” In fact, it’s the humor found in this film that makes it so much fun; the only moral message that I can derive is that you don’t need to be adored by everyone when you have the love of your friends, an idea that isn’t even hugely stressed.

There isn’t much else to say about this movie. It’s funny, it’s enjoyable, the incredibly unorthodox Pirate Captain and his crew are incredibly amusing, and it simply tells a good story, with entertaining twists on historical figures such as Charles Darwin (who is called “Chuck” once or twice and has a pet chimpanzee wearing a tuxedo) and Queen Victoria (voiced by Imelda Staunton; called “Vicky” by Pirate Captain). None of the humor feels forced or uninspired, which is refreshing among so many of the so-called “comedy” films released nowadays. I don’t think it’ll win Best Animated Feature, but The Pirates! Band of Misfits is certainly better than Disney/Pixar’s Brave was (read my review here), making it one of the top four animated films of 2012.

-Chad

Rating: 4 (out of 5)

MPAA: PG – for mild action, rude humor and some language