Review of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012) by Walter M — 12 Jan 2014

In 1837, Queen Victoria is none too amused with pirates. At the same time Pirate Captain likes his chances for winning that year's prestigious Pirate of the Year Award. But it turns out locating the requisite booty is much harder than he originally imagined, considering the most valuable thing he can find is a scientist, Charles Darwin, who informs him that he may in fact own a priceless dodo bird.

"The Pirates! Band of Misfists" starts promisingly enough with the nonsensical pirate award. But the rest of it sadly fails to live up to the usual levels of Aaardman ingenuity, even with its tenth hour steampunk, instead relying on silly anachronisms for most of its humor. With the exception of the pub scene, the movie does little to take advantage of its time period. I mean if you are going to invoke Charles Darwin, there has to be more to it than just depicting him as a nerdy virgin, even if he does get married in 1839. However, the movie does get points for employing the boisterous Brian Blessed as one of the voices, as Martin Freeman even manages to get typecast as a sidekick in an animated film.