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“Wallace & Gromit.” “Chicken Run.” “Arthur Christmas.” In its consistent excellence, England’s Aardman Animations might well be called EuroPixar if its U.S. distributor weren’t Sony, and if clay didn’t trump pixels at Aardman. Aardman’s streak continues with “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” 88 minutes of sublime silliness.
Though “Pirates in the Caribbean” has long since gotten long in the tooth, there’s still some cachet left in the pirate trend. In fact, Aardman’s latest film derives from a series of comic books by Gideon Defoe, who here adapts his own “The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.” Since ‘Mericans are stoopid, the film’s title has been changed on these shores to “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” but fear not: The story still ropes in smarty-pants historical and literary allusions.
Due to its often-sophisticated humor, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” should appeal in equal measure to adults and children. The madcap plot concerns the also-ran Pirate Captain (the inestimable Hugh Grant), who covets the “Pirate of the Year” award but stands little chance of winning it for his bumbling plundering (especially given the stiff competition from Salma Hayek’s Cutlass Liz and Jeremy Piven’s Black Bellamy).
All bets are off when The Pirate Captain and his crew haplessly board the Beagle. Though they discover Darwin (David Tennant) has no booty, the naturalist recognizes the Pirate Captain’s “parrot” Polly to be the last living dodo. And so our hero resets his sights on the Royal Society’s “Scientist of the Year” award. But he’ll have to contend with Darwin here cast as an ambitious if pathetic villain and the menacing Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), who avers to hate pirates (it’s right there on her coat of arms, don’t you know).
The story doesn’t skimp on the looting, cutlasses, plank-walking and funny hats, but everything gets a winningly ironic spin. The pirates, for instance, look forward to nothing so much as “Ham Nite.” Darwin has a monocled monkey servant named Mr. Bobo who communicates with cue cards, and at one point Jane Austen goes on a date with the Elephant Man.
Of course, as directed by Aardman co-founder Peter Lord, the picture offers visual delights in old-school Claymation style, with an assist from some CGI effects (plus, pie-throwing in 3D). The production design comes courtesy of three-time Oscar nominee Norman Garwood (“Brazil”), and the soundtrack includes the Pogues, the Clash and Flight of the Conchords.
Though the film is full of Anglophile Easter eggs for adults (read quickly for a great gag, that’s doubly paid off later in the film, about actor Brian Blessed), kids will appreciate the action, the goofy characters and sentiments like this one: “It’s only impossible if you stop to think about it.”
Rated PG for mild action, rude humor and some language. 1 hour, 28 minutes.
By Peter Canavese
Rated PG for mild action, rude humor and some language. 1 hour, 28 minutes.
By Peter Canavese
