The Dukes See a Movie: Pirates! Band of Misfits

Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.

For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!...
Oh wait this isn't a review for the Pirates of Penzance (although I do feel I should start reviewing musicals).  I guess I just got carried away by the word Pirate so here goes the real review. Ahoy there matey! 'Tis I the captain of your journey through this barnacle strewn bounty of a film. It is a grand adventure for old salt dogs and land lubbers alike. Oh sweet mercy I did it again! I swear that is the last time I flip into some random persona.

I have been looking forward to this movie for months. I like pirates and I like Aardman Animation (Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run). Seeing as how this is a kid's movie it had a fairly simple plot. The Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) wants to win the pirate of the year award. He has entered before and has never come close. His crew loves him and they want to help him win. As they engage in a series of failed ransacking attempts they land on the ship that is carrying Charles Darwin and some of his research. Darwin sees that the Pirate Captain has a dodo bird that he has mistaken for a parrot.

She is just big boned!

Darwin convinces him to show the bird off at the annual scientist of year awards by telling him he will receive a great treasure. As the plot progresses the Pirate captain faces a decision of what is most important to him. He makes a mistake and he works to rectify it. I admit I left it a bit vague, but I didn't want to ruin two movie plots in a row.

This movie is a lot of fun for children and adults alike. There is a lot of humor that will go over the kid's heads but will have the adults in stitches (I have never used that wording before and I don't think I like it. I apologize.) even though some of the wording changed in the transition from the United Kingdom to the US. As it turns out the British enjoy crude humor even more than we do. Also they changed a couple of the voice actors in the transition. The best part is that IMDB for a while completely removed the British actors from the movie page even though they were the originals. That is just classic us. Go USA!

Rating: 4 stars