Aardman Animations, Sony Pictures Animation,
Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Russell Tovey, Ashley Jensen, Brendan Gleeson, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Brian Blessed, Lenny Henry, Salma Hayek
The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant), yes that’s his name, has had a long history of failed attempts to capture the greatest prize of all piracy…the “Pirate of the Year Award”. This year he wants to do it bad. But there is a lot of competition out there, and to win, you have to collect the most booty possible, but it seems all that The Pirate Captains bloodthirsty pirates can rustle up are plague boats and ghost ships. When they finally raze the ship of Charles Darwin, the famous scientist, things look pretty bleak. But then they think up a foolhardy plan that might win them the prize, but also might put all their heads in a noose. This animated film provides some fresh new voices and an interesting look at the trials of piracy!
These guys are terrible pirates. But they want to be recognized for the pirates they wish they were. This slightly adult cartoon is really pretty fresh. I guess I should also mention that this is stop motion animation. The kids can enjoy it because there isn’t anything really awful in it, but the jokes will end up going way over their heads. This is one of those rare films where the humor is adult enough and mildly risque enough to be enjoyable for the adults in the audience who will make the kids wonder what you’re laughing at. It’s a good film to share with the kids, as it’s not simply boring for adults like some other cartoon films are. This one kept my interest and I enjoyed the sophisticated humor embedded in the simple pirate story. The is a parrot who’s not a parrot, and a monkey who can’t talk, of course, so he holds up little flash cards to say what he wants to say. It’s pretty funny. I have to say, I found it very fresh, and a story that some might find vaguely familiar (this type of story must have been done before) but I found it new and interesting, and pretty funny. I’ve always been a fan of pirate movies to begin with, since I was a little kid, and I went back to childhood-land while watching this, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. I recommend this one for a family film night, now that it’s out on DVD.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
