The Pirates! Band of Misfits in 3D Review
Certainly better than Pirates of the Caribbean: on Stranger Tides.
Of course, whenever I hear Misfits in the same sentence as band I am going to assume you are talking about the Misfits, one of the greatest punk/horror/pop bands ever. Naturally no songs by the Misfits were in this very family friendly film, although I did catch London Calling by the Clash. In fact I also heard I Fought the Law by the Clash in the trailer for Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted that they played before this film, so I guess it can be said that the Clash have officially sold out. Sad really, and in both cases the songs were as out of place and disconcerting as finding hard core pornography in a grade school child’s book bag. (Misfits image courtesy of the Vintage T Shirts).
So I am a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, and therefore this style of animation really works for me. A lot of the humor styling carried over as well, and in general the movie was really fun and enjoyable. However, I think in the effort to ride the fence between being fun for kids and entertaining for adults this film kind of failed to really succeed at either. Not bad. Just not as awesome as I think it could have been.
As is my policy for kids movies I will not do the full on stars/black holes review but rather just talk about the overall feeling for the film. I generally base my kids reviews on how the kids in the audience were reacting, and for the most part they seemed to be enjoying themselves but not going bat**** nuts like I have seen for other kids movies. I think a lot of the humor went over their heads, and some of the action might have been a little intimidating for them.
The story is of a band of pirates, led by an intrepid sailor with the fortuitous name of the Pirate Captain (was he named Pirate Captain at birth, or was he like Pirate Sailor? There is a guy in my building down the hall who calls himself Pirate, but I am pretty sure that is a nick name of some kind). The funniest part of the entire movie was the individual pirates and the names they were given, like Surprisingly Curvacious Pirate and Pirate who likes Sunsets and Kittens. Each one had a distinct personality that meshed well together. However, I think this was exactly the sort of thing that missed the kids entirely. Anyway, they are kind of down on their luck with a decrepit boat and a less than stellar reputation, but the Pirate Captain opts to enter the Pirate of the Year contest. He is faced with three other captains, all more competent and successful than he.
The crew sets off to capture booty and runs into a string of ships with next to nothing on it. Eventually they capture Charles Darwin, who convinces them to head off to London for Scientist of the Year. There they meet Queen Victoria, who has an absolute hatred of pirates for fairly unclear reasons. Piratical hijinks ensue. Queen Victoria is painted in a fairly negative light (not really into the UK market I guess, although how mad would we be if someone did a movie that showed Abe Lincoln in a comical light?).
Overall, a fun, enjoyable movie. The only issue really is the compromise they tried to strike between kiddy and adult. However, if you are looking for something to kill 88 minutes with your kids you will probably not regret seeing this. The kids will be entertained, and you will not be bored. The characters were fun, and the animation good. Even the 3D actually added to the film, although I have long held that the best 3D comes from animated movies. It just translates better.
Thanks for reading. Sorry about the short review, but really not a lot to sink my teeth into here. This week I think it likely you will see me dive into another George Lucas rant at least once, so if you are into that keep checking back. I also had fun writing up those cartoon questions yesterday and might hit it again. Tuesday I will probably go see Girl in Progress, but am kind of dreading it. It looks like kind of movie that will make me wish I had spent the two hours trapped in a collapsed coal mine. However, those generally make for funny reviews so you, my beloved readers, have that to look forward to. Follow me on Twitter @NerdKungFu. Feel free to post any comments about this movie here, or if you have off topic questions or suggestions feel free to email me at [email protected]. Talk to you soon.
Dave
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