Die Piraten! Ein Haufen merkwürdiger Typen

Just watched this movie for free with my movie theatre-working friend at the place where he works. I liked the dry British humor throughout while it took a while for my friend to laugh at certain places. He did recognize the theme used for 2001: A Space Odyssey as also that for wrestling events as he's a big wrestling fan so that was one part he enjoyed. Like I said, the British humor was pretty dry and since we watched on a morning with few people in the audience, I only heard myself laughing most of the time. But I'm sure if the seats were full, the last sequence would have probably gotten a big laugh, I'm sure. So on that note, I highly recommend the stop-motion movie The Pirates! Band of Misfits especially in 3-D which is how we saw it.

It's an Aardman film, so the animation is as faultless as ever. However, the characters aren't quite as warm and charismatic as our favourites, Wallace and Grommit. Hugh Grant is masterfully well suited to the Pirate Captain role and the film is entertaining for the most part. But, it failed to capture us unreservedly.

With the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise seemingly drifting rudderless (ho ho) for at least the last two films, it's about time someone came along to remind us why we all fell in love with pirates in the first place. It seems that "someone" is Aardman Animations of all people, whose awkwardly-titled new film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! has just hit cinemas across the UK. While it's not quite on the level of Chicken Run (Aardman's best theatrical work) you'll be happy to hear that this is an energetic, fast-paced comedy that almost everyone will enjoy. The film tells the wonderfully silly story about a bunch of lovably incompetent pirates teaming up with a young Charles Darwin (yes, you read that right) to make a ton of gold and win the Pirate of the Year Awards and become the most feared buccaneers in all seven seas.

Hugh Grant is just fantastic as the Pirate Captain (yes, that's his character's name). Some audience members might be worried about him playing "H-H-Hugh G-G-errr-G-Grant, the charming, uh, nervous upper middle class p-p-pirate" but worry not. Grant throws himself into the role with gusto, and free of the constraints of his rom-com persona, he's just as enthusiastic and fun as you'd expect (and want) a pirate captain to be. His showmanship and overconfidence make the character a riot the whole way through (my favourite bit is at the scientists' convention). Martin Freeman (as "Number Two") and David Tennant (as Charles Darwin) put in great supporting performances, both providing a great balance to the Pirate Captain's arrogance and bravado, and the rest of the crew are all great fun even if they have less screen time. Finally Imelda Staunton is clearly having a great time as none other than Queen Victoria, and I won't even say who plays the Pirate King because it's just too damn perfect.

None of these characters are especially deep or interesting, but they're likable and funny and in this kind of film, that's all you need. Like the first Shrek film or the golden age of The Simpsons, The Pirates! is just packed with laughs, getting more good gags into 85 minutes than most sitcoms manage in a year. If you're a fan of Aardman's very-British-yet-utterly-accessible style of humour you'll barely have time to breathe between laughs. The pacing is lightning fast without ever feeling rushed, which is typical of Aardman's work, and its constant forward momentum is will keep most viewers hooked throughout its short running time.

Stop motion animation has never looked better either, with character movements being every bit as lively and fluid as they are in any Pixar film. In particular, Charles Darwin's nervousness is brilliantly conveyed with facial expressions and mannerisms that are more detailed and convincing than you'd even think possible for an animated character. Of course, being an Aardman film, there are a few slapstick action scenes thrown in, and a chase through Darwin's house is a work of such beautifully choreographed chaos that it might be straight out of classic Tom & Jerry, and is probably the best bit of action the studio has done since The Wrong Trousers's legendary model train scene. I'm not sure the 3D really adds very much, but either way it's a spectacular film to look at and even though it's "just" a comedy it's well worth seeing on the biggest screen you can.

If I have to criticise the film at all, I would say it lacks the emotional resonance of Chicken Run, and while Pirate Captain is certainly fun to watch and you do feel sorry for him for being so hopeless, audiences won't really connect with him as protagonist the same way they did with the hens in that film. In Chicken Run you really want Ginger and her gang to escape, and that gave the film the added emotional weight that marks a truly great family film.In addition, while Queen Victoria is a great villainness she's nowhere near as terrifying as Mrs Tweedy. Compared to the latter, The Pirates! is just a rip-roaring slapstick adventure. And that's fine, really, because the fast pace and great jokes are enough to carry the day.

I can heartily (har har) recommend The Pirates! if you want a damn funny time at the cinema. I expect that it will stand up well to repeat viewings, as there are so many clever background jokes that you'll never catch them all the first time through (take a look at the entry form for the "Pirate of the Year Awards" in the brief few seconds it's on screen). It's not quite the studio's best film, but it's still the work of a bunch of talented people at the top of their game, and is almost certainly one of the funniest films you'll see all year.

Aardman Animations has probably been more consistent than Pixar, especially of late, yet the stop-motion powerhouse doesn't get half the attention. "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" didn't buck the box-office trend, but it proves that even with the most generic of premises, Aardman knows how to appeal to a diverse audience.

Intent on winning the prestigious Pirate of the Year award, the generically named Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scours the ocean in search of treasure with his deeply loyal crew of ham-loving pirates. When famed pirates Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) burst his bubble, however, he becomes desperate. After hijacking the boat of scientist Charles Darwin (David Tennant), he discovers his beloved parrot Polly isn't a parrot after all, and could win him the fortune he seeks to make his Pirate of the Year dream come true. But to do so, he'll have to travel to London, where the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) awaits.

If you're looking for a film that epitomizes British humor, "The Pirates" is exactly that. The jokes are silly, clever and come in rapid-fire fashion, many under the radar. Few animated films balance pure slapstick and wit the way this film does, which is a Hallmark of the best family films. "Despicable Me" is the closest recent example. Most films that do both deliver them in segmented fashion, whereas certain scenes are more physical for the kiddies and others smaller moments are for the adults. "The Pirates" can get both demographics laughing at the same time.

That said, "The Pirates" doesn't deliver that many belly laughs for the adults. It prefers being quirky and totally silly and it commits to this style early and often. Characters such as The Albino Pirate (Anton Yelchin) spout the most absurd things out of their mouth, but because writer Gideon Defoe never yields, what could come off as bungling stupidity comes off as funny bungling stupidity.

The film moves at a brisk pace, perhaps because a lot of the traveling by boat happens in 2D animated sequences on a treasure map (though one of the pirate's jobs is to throw red discs out the back of the boat so that red dots show up on the map). The major sequences move quickly into one another, fitting some positive character and theme-building moments in between. The result is a well-structured little film with plenty of big, physical adventure and a decent enough amount of heart.

Nothing about the story is that emotionally moving, though Martin Freeman voicing Pirate Captain's No. 2 man gives it a good go as the only logical or thoughtful character in the entire film who often calls Pirate Captain out on his impulsive and ignorant behavior. Instead, "The Pirates" succeeds largely on its potent sense of danger, anchored by the terrifying Queen Victoria who couldn't have been equipped with a better voice than that of Staunton.

Grant does surprisingly strong and practically unrecognizable voice work as the Pirate Captain, a character both likable and one you can only shake your head at some times. He's the perfect lead for a silly family film such as this. He's heroic and embodies good leadership qualities (hence why his crew adores him), but in child-like fashion he often forgets what's most important, which allows for an easy way for the kids to access the thematic points of the story.

So much of "The Pirates," however, will go over kids' heads, though not in some inappropriate way. Rather, much of what makes the movie so funny is how it plays with pirate genre conventions and film conventions in general, which kids obviously have no concept of. Start to finish, it never ceases to find the clever thing to do or say.

Simply, "The Pirates" will have audiences of all ages grinning from ear to buccaneer.

~Steven C

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When I saw this film the first time around, I was inundated with a lot of "life stuff", and so I sat in the audience not really reacting to much of anything, and thinking and feeling that I could predict every gag and story point that came me. I was just in the wrong frame of mind, and so I failed to enjoy my first viewing.

A few days ago I checked out the DVD, and man I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.

Yes, this is borderline cliché in terms of a Pirate-Genre send-up, but it has a lot of good British subtlety in the humor to be both very fresh and highly humorous. Everything from the expressions of background characters, to obvious names for characters, to the occasional British talent of understatement in the dialogue.

There is no historical accuracy here, and the pirating is kept appropriately G-rated for a family outing, though the film and its humor occasionally skirt into PG territory.

Surprisingly Hugh Grant plays the lead role of the Pirate Captain, and the Hobbit's own Bilbo Baggins in the form of Martin Freeman plays his first mate Number Two, showing the audience that indeed talented actors can do anything, even play stop motion animated pirates for a children's film.

The big act III escapade is appropriately Aardmanesque (whom seem to take quite a few of their cues from Lucas's Star Wars and Indy Jones films) as we see the characters do battle to right wrongs and resume their brand of ill-conceived piracy.

Good laughs, good animation, lots of subtle and intelligent humor mixed in with good old fashioned gags, this film should entertain everyone in the family on some level.

Enjoy.