The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

Pirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

Directors:

Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt

Writers:

Gideon Defoe (book), Gideon Defoe (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Grant	...	The Pirate Captain (voice)
Martin Freeman	...	The Pirate with a Scarf (voice)
Imelda Staunton	...	Queen Victoria (voice)
David Tennant	...	Charles Darwin (voice)
Jeremy Piven	...	Black Bellamy (voice)
Salma Hayek	...	Cutlass Liz (voice)
Lenny Henry	...	Peg Leg Hastings (voice)
Brian Blessed	...	The Pirate King (voice)
Russell Tovey	...	The Albino Pirate (voice)
Anton Yelchin	...	The Albino Pirate (voice)
Brendan Gleeson	...	The Pirate with Gout (voice)
Ashley Jensen	...	The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate (voice)
Al Roker	...	The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (voice)
Ben Whitehead	...	The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (voice)
Mike Cooper	...	Admiral Collingwood (voice)

Storyline

After years of humiliation and failed attempts to win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award, Pirate Captain and his oddball crew take on the cream of the pirating crop - Black Bellamy, Peg Leg Hastings and Cutlass Liz - in a race to pillage the most booty. They soon cross paths with lovelorn scientist Charles Darwin, who persuades the Captain that the crew's prized 'parrot', Polly, could be the answer to the 'untold riches' they are searching for. Their adventure takes them to Victorian London where they meet Darwin's sidekick 'man-panzee' Mister Bobo, and the notorious pirate-hating Queen Victoria herself. It soon unfolds that Darwin's motives for helping the crew are not what they seem, and the Queen has an evil hidden agenda of her own. The Pirate Captain must choose between basking in the glory of being crowned Pirate of the Year, or staying faithful to his trusted crew.

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Plot Keywords:

pirate | cutlass | queen victoria | scientist | charles darwin | 

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Taglines:

Laugh your booty off

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild action, rude humor and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Filming Locations:

Aardman Animation Studios, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$11,137,734 (USA) (27 April 2012)

Gross:

$31,051,126 (USA) (3 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pirate with gout has a Blue Peter badge on his hat.

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Goofs

When Charles is describing the new species of Barnacle he discovered, he is seen with his back facing his collection of animals. In the next shot, the animals are to his right.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Black Bellamy: You want to be Pirate of the Year? Do they just give it to the guy with the fattest parrot?
Pirate Captain: She's not fat, she's just big-boned!
Black Bellamy: She's fat, dude!
[the Dodo vomits on Bellamy]
Black Bellamy: Dude, come on!

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Crazy Credits

Throughout the credits many of the props and posters that appear in the background are displayed, giving the audience a chance to spot some of the subtle jokes and puns they may have missed in the film.

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Connections

Featured in Animation Lookback: The Best of Stop Motion - Aardman (2014)

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Soundtracks

Fiesta
Written by Jem Finer, Shane MacGowan, Edmund Koetscher, and Rudi Lindt
Performed by The Pogues
Courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.

User Reviews

Not perfect but it at least made me laugh.

The main reason why lots of people will still end up feeling disappointed with this movie is because it's not up to par with Aardman's other work, such as the Wallace & Gromit series and "Chicken Run". But really, the movie in itself is far from a terrible one, though it still definitely has its weaknesses.

Good news is that the movie still features some of the very typical Peter Lord and Nick Park humor in it (though Nick Park wasn't involved with this particular movie). It features lots of very quick and clever visual jokes and some often great and funny dialog, all done in a very British style. And that's also a joke this entire movie relies heavily one; the fact that the pirates in this movie are all being very British, with their mannerisms and accents. This was something that I appreciated but I still did wish that the movie would had done some more stuff with it all.

For a pirates movie, that besides is also made for a younger audience, the story doesn't really ever feel adventurous enough. It doesn't take you to far off or exotic places and the action, which is something I normally really love in Aardman's movies, is mostly missing in this movie. Not that the movie is boring or anything, it's too short and fast paced for that but it still is all a bit lacking and prevents this movie from ever truly becoming a great one.

There just isn't really anything that stands out about this movie at all. Also its characters are being somewhat shallow and you just don't ever feel involved enough with them, or the overall movie. Some of the characters besides get terribly underused and the movie also really could had used a good, fun, strong villain in it.

But oh well, most important thing is that I at least was entertained by it, for almost its entire duration and the movie genuinely made me laugh. In that regard you simply just can't call this movie a bad one, even though it's being sort of disappointing still, in some departments.

7/10

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