The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Released: 2012
Director(s): Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Starring: Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven
Running Time: 88 minutes
Rated: PG

The breakdown:  A pirate captain is in a race with three other captains to be called pirate of the year.


This week I went to go see The Pirates! Band of Misfits in a local theather.  I was hoping it was going to be like Chicken Run because it was the same creator of the claymation style animated movie.  Although it was certainly cute at times, it was nowhere near as good or funny as Chicken Run.

There's this pirate captain fittingly named Pirate Captain who's got a washed up crew, a parrot he loves, and a small boat.  They almost never find treasure, but that doesn't stop them from trying.  Pirate Captain wants to win a little contest called Pirate of the Year, but his competition laughs him out of the bar that the applications are being taken.

His crew convinces him to keep up the chase of the title and stay in the fight.  As they are sailing the high seas in search of booty, they find a research vessel headed by none other than Charles Darwin.
Charles sees Captain's parrot and reveals she is no parrot, but a Dodo bird, long believed extinct and would make first prize at the scientific conference he could attend.  Captain sees big dollar signs and agrees to go with him to show their "discovery."

The movie tries to be a little of everything, which makes it successful at almost nothing.
I give it a 2 out of 5 because it should've been a lot more funny if it's the same creators as Chicken Run and Wallace & Grommet.  Plus Hugh Grant is in it and he's an ass.