The Pirates! Band of Misfits: Review By Bawnian©-Dexeus

The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a 2012 stop motion animated movie.

Directed by: Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt

Starring: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Anton Yelchin, Brendan Gleeson and Salma Hayek.

Pirates have the best life when you think about it. The only rules they ever need to follow is the Pirate rule. Don't expect me to tell you land lover because even I make things up as I go when it comes to comedy. What we have here is the story of Pirate Captain (Grant) whose long lasting goal in life has been to win the Pirate Year Award, where the thieves would compete in winning for best acquisitions of gold. The man or woman who brings back the biggest pot, wins.

It's not everyday we get some claymation on the big screen. I still remember Chicken Run. Man, was that an entertaining flick of birds. The last one I actually paid to see was Wallace and Gromit where they meet the Wererabbit. Moving on, my reason for watching this family comedy was simply to watch the execution. I wasn't expecting much from the laughter department nor the story. The craft of it all looked attractive to the eyes and won me over instantly. Plus, I enjoy listening to Hugh Grant, especially when he whines.

One of the many interesting plot points is the introduction of scientists to the genre. We are introduced to famous Charles Darwin (Tennant) who is characterized in the very definition of a geek wanting to win the heart of Queen Victoria (Staunton) while she possesses a glorious rich distaste for pirates. Captain owns a rare Dodo Bird which he uses to acquire riches beyond belief. He betrays his crew's trust by trading his bird and thus realizes his mistake and goes through mayhem to get it back. In a nutshell, this is the adventure. At the risk of sounding repetitive, my interest was purely for the animation. It's an art worthy of respect. I've seen 30 second commercials with behind the scenes doc*mentaries listing them to take up to at least 2 months of production. The hard work and patience from the crew and even the director has to be recognized with this type of animation. Claymation always reminds me of cake for the most part.

Overall, the story is cool enough for the kids and the visuals greatly constructed for the movie buff.

Written by: Bawnian©-Dexeus.