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The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 144
Fresh: 124 | Rotten: 20

It may not quite scale Aardman's customary delirious heights, but The Pirates! still represents some of the smartest, most skillfully animated fare that modern cinema has to offer.

97

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 1

It may not quite scale Aardman's customary delirious heights, but The Pirates! still represents some of the smartest, most skillfully animated fare that modern cinema has to offer.

audience

60

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 82,560

My Rating

Movie Info

In The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain - a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much

PG,

Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy

,

Gideon Defoe

Aug 28, 2012

$31.1M

Sony Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (145) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (124) | Rotten (20) | DVD (1)

The action is beautifully staged, delightful, and exciting.

May 7, 2012 Full Review Source: New Yorker
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The filmmakers have said they are already dreaming up a sequel. They needn't hurry. Whatever treasures these pirates have are well buried.

April 28, 2012 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comments (19)
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

To paraphrase a certain man with a certain luxuriant beard, it's only impossible to enjoy if you stop to think about it.

April 27, 2012 Full Review Source: Film.com
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Pirates are right up there with vampires, werewolves and people saying "LOL" out loud on the list of Played-Out Pop Culture Phenomena, but leave it to Aardman Animation to find the remaining reservoirs of fun in a bunch of seafaring scalawags.

April 27, 2012 Full Review Source: The Wrap
The Wrap
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Designed to please all generations of irreverent humour-lovers, The Pirates! Band of Misfits may not be heart-warming (it is about nasty, scurvy pirates!) but it's breezy rollicking fun.

April 27, 2012 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You may laugh more than the child who brought you to "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," a subtly screwball animated comedy with a distinctively British wit.

April 27, 2012 Full Review Source: Newsday | Comment (1)
Newsday
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is one of the few times I watched something from Aardman and found myself watching the clock...

February 19, 2013 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

This is a good Aardman Animations feature, from a studio that's proved itself capable of being better than good.

January 7, 2013 Full Review Source: Toledo Blade
Toledo Blade

The Pirates! Band of Misfits is cinematic booty that shines like gold.

January 7, 2013 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The Pirates! is the first truly great animated film of the year: a painstakingly-modelled laugh riot that boggles the mind while tickling the funnybone.

January 7, 2013 Full Review Source: TheShiznit.co.uk
TheShiznit.co.uk

Though not as laugh-out-loud funny as their best work, there's plenty of wry smiles to be had.

October 7, 2012 Full Review Source: Flix Capacitor
Flix Capacitor

It's got great vocal talent and well-done animation, but it proves once again that the story is the key ingredient.

September 15, 2012 Full Review Source: Examiner.com
Examiner.com

A rollicking good time that offers enough broad comedy mixed with more cerebral sight gags to ensure this will be a family favourite for years to come.

September 15, 2012 Full Review Source: We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered

It's full of jokes for adults that will fly right over kids' heads, but retains just enough plot conflict and slapstick to keep younger audiences involved as well.

September 12, 2012 Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com
Scene-Stealers.com

The Aardman folks might not have created a pirate film to rival the big screen's best, but they've created a subtle parody of pirate movies that's well worth watching.

August 27, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Yes, the film feels childish, but in the best possible way.

August 25, 2012 Full Review Source: CraveOnline
CraveOnline

There's comic treasure in this animated feature

May 24, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Habit
Movie Habit

... enough amusing throwaway gags to keep us entertained.

May 17, 2012 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review

The Pirates! Band of Misfits deserves two doubloons up. It shivered me funny bone.

May 16, 2012 Full Review Source: tonymacklin.net
tonymacklin.net

The fun, infectious tone is set early on and never peters out. The humor is kind of like Monty Python for kids.

May 12, 2012 Full Review Source: Sin Magazine
Sin Magazine

Droll and charming, and will probably appeal more to fans of Monty Python and 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' than to young kids...

May 11, 2012 Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

This is a very funny, very good looking movie getting lost in the fray.

May 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Reno News and Review
Reno News and Review

Warning to all ye who enter: drollery, Pythonesque absurdity, and some smartly silly swashbuckling with history ahead. The dark corners of wooden ships and buildings ground the zaniness in Victorian atmosphere, so even modern jokes sail smoothly along.

May 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

The best laughs come around the fringes, with great throwaway gags and Grant's usual self-deprecating way with dialogue.

May 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Audience Reviews for The Pirates! Band of Misfits

A
April 4, 2012
Joseph Mcnicholas

Super Reviewer

Delightful from beginning to end, Aardman's stop-motion animated caper Pirates: Band of Misfits is hands down the best animated film of the year. Its wry British humor is mixed with inspired slapstick and a child-like sense of folly as the Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) and his motley crew try to prove themselves to their pirate peers. Then they run into Charles Darwin, discover their parrot is really the last remaining dodo, and have to face off against a double sword-wielding Queen Victoria. The imagination on display is remarkable. Even the puns are funny. The pacing is swift, with gags flying so fast you'll likely want a second viewing to catch them. The voice acting is spot-on and Grant anchors the film with his gleeful impulsivity. The story is simple but well executed and fun. I absolutely loved this movie. Its action sequences are well orchestrated, its comedic sensibilities are silly but often satisfying (a monkey butler who speaks in pre-written cards, a member of the crew that is merely a fish with a pirate hat on), it's self-aware without being too self-conscious, and the animation is wonderful. There's something about stop-motion that other animations cannot replicate, a physicality to its world that can make it so rich and immersive in the right hands. Kids will miss the references to, among others, Darwin, Jane Austen, and John Merrick, but adults will appreciate the nods. Pirates: Band of Misfits is a wildly entertaining family-friendly animated adventure that has it all.

Nate's Grade: A
February 28, 2013
boxman
Nate Zoebl

Super Reviewer

    1. The Pirate Captain: You'll see. I will be Pirate of the Year! And then you'll be laughing on the other side of your faces. And believe me, that is a very painful thing to do.
    – Submitted by Matthew R (4 months ago)
    1. The Pirate Captain: [looks at Charles Darwin's house] You don't get many girls, do you?
    – Submitted by Matthew R (4 months ago)
    1. The Pirate Captain: Now listen Charles, we've all done something unforgivable. I've betrayed my pirate honor, you've betrayed science, and Mr. Bobo's betrayed the animal kingdom.
    – Submitted by Matthew R (4 months ago)
    1. The Albino Pirate: Wee! I'm a floating head!
    – Submitted by Matthew R (4 months ago)
    1. The Pirate Captain: She's not fat, she's just 'big boned'.
    2. Black Bellamy: She's fat dude.
    – Submitted by Matthew R (5 months ago)
    1. Pirate Captain: Its us, the pirates, masters of disguise.
    – Submitted by Matthew R (5 months ago)

Discussion Forum

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Latest News on The Pirates! Band of Misfits

December 27, 2012:
Best Movies Off the Radar 2012
The Avengers. The Dark Knight Rises. Skyfall. There were plenty of highly-anticipated, critically...

April 27, 2012:
Critics Consensus: The Pirates! Band of Misfits Is Certified Fresh
This week at the multiplex, we've got a little something for everyone. There's Aardman's stop-motion...

January 24, 2012:
Leprosy Advocates Angered by Aardman's The Pirates!
The studio has agreed to change a scene that drew the ire of support groups.

Foreign Titles

  • Die Piraten - Ein Haufen merkwürdiger Typen (DE)
  • The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists (UK)
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