The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists! / The Pirates! Band of Misfits
2012
**½
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Lenny Henry, Brian Blessed
The Pirate Captain and his crew compete for the annual Pirate of the Year Award. If only they weren't so inept at what they do. A run-in with scientist Charles Darwin, however, could turn their luck around. The latest stop-motion animation from the Aardman studios doesn't reach the heights of Chicken Run or Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This is an adaptation of the first volume in Gideon Defoe's book series. Its premise is clever, but the story and the characters are disappointingly unoriginal. The film is perfectly watchable, but apart from a few nice sight gags, it's never more than mildly amusing.
