Stop-go animation happens to be one
of the things that fascinates me most about the world of animation. How do they
get the people to do those aerial stunts? How does a cannonball manage to bash
into the ship and you see no wire or anything holding it up? DON’T ANSWER. I
like my own imaginings.
When I heard that the people
responsible for Chicken Run were back
doing a movie, I knew the year before it came to theaters that I was seeing it,
come hell or high water. Now, I wondered if the studio would be able to produce
another successful animated film in an age where good animation is rare—and
good stories for the animation always come from Pixar. (Sorry, Disney, ya fall
flat a lot.) With all the new animated movies coming out, I thought Pirates: Band of Misfits would be one of
those ones you sort of chuckle at because the humor is aimed at foolish stuff
only a toddler would laugh at.
I was wrong.
Filled with the sort of comicality
we’ve come to dub “British Humor,” Pirates
is a good romp for any age. Everything in the movie is ridiculous, but not in
the way that you face-palm and groan. “Really? That’s stupid.” No, no! Humor
ranges from the politically incorrect to the sheer tasteless. For instance,
Pirate Captain’s quote about “using babies as squid bait” shocked me until I
had to laugh at it.
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| Pirate Captain and Polly the "parrot" |
And that’s another thing that amused
me: The pirates don’t have real names. It’s Pirate Captain, The Pirate with the
Scarf, The Pirate with Gout, The Albino Pirate, on and on (my favorite being
The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens). Hugh Grant (Pirate Captain) did an
amazing job using (gasp!) emotion in the role, and I actually couldn’t tell it
was him until I was told by someone who’d read the credits.
The story, while witty, was written
for kids, you could tell. But at the same time, it wasn’t bad. I actually
enjoyed the incorporation of fiction with real nineteenth-century figures. You
know how some kids movies just have awful writing (*cough* Chipmunks 3
*cough*)? Well, Pirates can’t say
that. They did brilliant. Five kernels out of 5.
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