After years of “maturing” and stretching way outside my comfort zone, this week I retreated back to my roots with the innocence of kids’ movies. “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” a claymation wonder filled with clever wit and humor, was spot on.
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” chronicles the exploits of Captain Pirate (Hugh Grant) and his motley crew on Pirate’s quest to win the pirate of the year award. Captain Pirate, however, is the laughing stock of the pirate community. Every ship he attempts to raid has no booty to loot! The unlucky buccaneers venture across the seas until one day they board the ship of the love-stricken Charles Darwin (David Tennant)––yup, the real Chuck. Together, they venture to London, where no pirate has gone before and come back alive. London is home to the evil-pirate-hating queen (Imelda Staunton––remember the evil sickeningly sweet Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter?).
The ship’s eclectic crew are witty and downright hilarious. British actors voice many of the characters and the banter is lively. Hugh Grant is backed by the voices of major stars Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek and most surprising, Al Roker! However, my favorite character was the only person/animal that didn’t talk––the mute monkey who only communicates through words written on cards was hysterical!
Yes, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” is tailored towards kids, but the funniest and most entertaining part of the movie is the humor targeted at the adults. The time-intensive claymation was very impressive and keeps up with the standard set by the director Peter Lord in his former movies “Wallace and Gromit” and “Chicken Run.” As in most British movies, the dialogue is very fast, which in this case means the jokes just keep coming nonstop as you sit there with a stupid grin on your face the entire movie. I thoroughly enjoyed “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” and cannot think of a better movie for my last review of the year . . . oh wait, I forgot about “The Avengers” and Batman “The Dark Night Rises!” Go see them and enjoy the summer!
