The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Dear Lord am I ready for summer movie season to start. 


This week I went to Pirates! Band of Misfits thinking that it would be a claymation movie that would be witty and fun. It was made from the creators of Chicken Run after all, and that movie was pretty damn funny. 


Pirates! Band of Misfits was not. I was trying to laugh, I really was. But every time I let out a snigger or a "haha" I realized that I was doing it out of the kindness of my heart and that whatever I was laughing at really was not that funny. I think if I truly counted the genuine laughs that I experienced throughout the duration of the film it would amount to 3. Three. That's it...tres laughs for el Jordan. Compare that to the literal hundreds that I received from 21 Jump Street, and you have one stinker of a "comedy" on your hands. And before you go telling me that I can't compare an R-rated comedy with a PG animation movie, then let me counter your complaint with this: The Muppets was PG and it was hilarious. And the worst part was that it wasn't even the humor that was bad. It wasn't like it was immature potty humor or humor that was going over my head, it was just not funny. Like that time on the lightrail where you hear two loud people talking and one says something and the other laughs so hard they literally pee their pants...but what the other person said just wasnt funny...yeah kind of like that.

An unfunny pirate and his kind of cute "parrot"

 Even worse is that the story is boring and dragged out. It starts off interesting with Pirate Captain (yes, that is his name) trying to win the Pirate of the Year award. In order to do so you must have the most booty, i.e. treasure, that of which Pirate Captain and his crew must go find. Basically this scenario gets carried out as expected and in a cliche manner, things go wrong, but all is saved at the end of the day. Oh did I spoil it for you? No because if you couldnt see that coming then you really shouldnt be going to the movies in the first place. 

Very impressive animation

The only praise I have for this movie is the animation. Claymation always astounds me because it is just so meticulous and time consuming. Pirates! does have a considerable bit of well choreographed action, and it just amazes me when claymation is set in motion, especially as well as it is done here. 


With that being said, I'm wondering if I missed the point of the movie. If maybe it was made to be a technical marvel rather than a comedic one. But then again, the film's tagline is: LAUGH YOUR BOOTY OFF.


Last time I checked, my booty is still entirely there. 


Pros:

• Really impressive animation and attention to detail. I cant imagine how long this movie would take to create
• The action scenes were actually pretty fun and sometimes funny
• I liked the ending sequence. It was entertaining

Cons:

• The movie isn't funny. I shouldn't be pity laughing at a movie, but I was
• The story is boring. I could care less about what happened
• It goes on for about 20 minutes too long
• Soundtrack doesn't fit at all...tries to use modern songs yet it is set in the year 187whatever

Rath's Review Score: 3.5/10