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The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Review by Anthony Morris



pirates band of misfits

pirates band of misfits

As much as everyone loves the Wallace & Grommit creating Aardman crew – they're the British version of Pixar, only with a better sense of humour – the fact remains that their feature-length efforts sometimes feel a little lacking. 

The Pirates! Band Of Misfits gets around this by being based on a book that seems to have been extremely episodic; while the overall story arc – The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) wants to be Pirate of the Year despite being a bit naff - carries throughout the film, he goes through all manner of stages in his attempts to achieve his goal. 

So while the story opens with him being all pirate-y, soon he and his crew are being shown up by some really impressive pirates, then they’re trying extra-hard to be great pirates, then they’re teaming up with a sneaky Charles Darwin to make a presentation at the London Academy of Science (which involves a lot of non-Pirate sneaking around 1838-era London), then they’re dealing with the Pirate-hating Queen Victoria, then there’s a whole lot more plot complications, all of which prevent things from getting too stale or predictable. 

The jokes come thick and fast and most of them are extremely funny, the voice cast are all perfect (Grant is especially good), and Aardman’s skill at complicated action set-pieces remains as impressive as ever. 

If there’s any flaws to pick, it’d be that the fast-moving plot never settles down enough to create any real character moments. 

But given the choice going for more laughs is never a bad idea and The Pirates is going to be one of the funniest (and just plain fun) films of 2012.

4.5 out of 5

The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Australian release: 2nd April, 2012
Official Site: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Cast: Hugh Grant, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Salma Hayek, Martin Freeman, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, Ashley Jensen
Director: Peter Lord



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