The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)
"The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" (original title)

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, Martin Freeman, Jeremy Piven

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 12 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)
Brendan Gleeson	...	The Pirate with Gout (voice)
Anton Yelchin	...	The Albino Pirate (voice)
Ashley Jensen	...	The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate (voice)
Ben Whitehead	...	The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (voice)
Mike Cooper	...	Admiral Collingwood (voice)
Al Roker	...	The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (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 | scientist | charles darwin | queen victoria | 

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Taglines:

Prepare for a new breed of pirates.

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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 in 3D

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

Peg Leg Hastings' line "lock up your daughters" when he enters the pirate pub is a reference to the Slade song with the same title.

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Goofs

When Black Bellamy arrives at Blood Island in the whale, Pirate Captain and Pirate With A Scarf walk to the hole in the wall and witness the whale jump from the sea. There is no table behind them, but when the whale bumps into the building, a table and occupant have appeared for its mouth to drop open on.

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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

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Sailing Out on the Ocean"
Traditional
Performed by Haskell Wolfenbarger
Courtesy of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits

It's a pity that this one didn't quite make the cut for a local release, where its wit and comedy would have been much appreciated by the more adult crowd. But I guess it's Brit wit and brand of humour may not find substantial box office business, so the plans eventually got shelved, and primed for a straight to DVD release. Still, the work done here by the team from Aardman, responsible for plenty of quality stop motion animated shorts and films, is nothing to scoff at, and one will find plenty to laugh about, and laugh at, in this adventure of the high seas.

We're introduced to the Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant), a not-too-successful pirate with his riff raff band of merry men, with distinct physical and attitude quirks (such as pirate iwth scarf, albino pirate, etc), who have camaraderie to be proud about, since they don't have much booty to go around. And this is certainly the moral of the story so slyly written into the film, that it's never about the success or riches one has, or one tries hard to accumulate through means both legal and illegal, nor to gain fame and be admired by thousands, but the relationships, friendships and bonds forged between good people that actually and truly matter in life.

And to tell this tale, we see how the Pirate Captain gets obsessed with winning Pirate of the Year award, an annual congratulatory recognition that goes to the pirate that brings in the largest booty to the organization, with keen competition from more competent pirates such as Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek), almost demi-god like in their introductory scenes as they gatecrash the registration to demonstrate just how steep the competition is for the year. Resigned to having not likely make the cut and competition. the Pirate Captain hits a lucky break when he got mixed up with Charles Darwin (David Tennant), and the latter's quest to get the Pirate Captain's "parrot" into a prominent science fair, since the "parrot" is none other than from an endangered species and would win the largest prize to the victor of the fair.

The conflict of personal interests between Pirate Captain and Charles Darwin forms most part of the laughs as they do battle with each other to wrest control of the presentation from its build up, since one is clearly in it for the money, while the other is after fame and the chance for an audience with his crush, the current Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton). And there is more to the latter who becomes the de facto villain of the film, in addition to passing laws that require all pirates be put to death.

Pirate Captain's irreverent gang of misfit followers provide laughter that come thick and fast in their scenes, coupled with plenty of other sight gags that all add up to the charm of the various characters. And when I mean sight gags, you have to kepe your eyes peeled at every corner, foreground and background for something funny that's bound to happen, especially when you least expect it. And like all Aardman products, you have to keep you ears peeled to the dialogues because that too is another major avenue for unbelievable humour. And yes, it ranges from the low to the high brow, so there's just about something for everyone to smile and laugh to.

With stop motion animation being done the non-traditional way using the computer rather than the rather tedious manual process, I suppose the dilemma here is that one's appreciation of the stop-motion technique may diminish a little because sweat-and-tears behind the scenes may not play a factor anymore into its charm. And what more, the computer may also simulate the little inconsistencies and chinks in the armour ubiquitous with the stop motion technique, that can now be recreated at a pixel level. But story remains king, so if the story's great, it really is not much of a deal what techniques got employed behind the scenes to bring a certain genre to life. That's my opinion anyway.