Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits                                                                                 1-7-18

In this forgotten gem from Aardman Animations, after getting humiliated by his rivals Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) and Black Bellamy (Jeremy Fiven), the Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is determined to win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award. With his trusted dodo Polly and his ragtag crew by his side, the Pirate Captain must battle a diabolical queen, save a young scientist, and never lose sight of what pirates love most: Adventure!

Now what do I think of The Pirates! Band of Misfits? Well, I like it more than Brave, but less than Wreck-it Ralph. As with every Aardman film, the stop-motion animation is top notch. However, the writing and humor can be hit-and-miss, but there are funny moments. This is my personal favorite piece of dialogue in the film.

Pirate Captain (dressed as a scientist): Hello! We're here for the science show. We're scientists.

Convention judge: If you're a scientist, name three elements.

Pirate Captain: Oh. Let's see now. There's gold, ham, and tears of a mermaid.

Convention judge: Yeah, two out of three. Close enough. First on your left.

The sets for the film are also nice. Even the scenes with Pirate Captain's ship on the sea is lovely, since water is difficult to get right in stop-motion animation.

Remember that this was Aardman's first stop-motion film since Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

There are also some memorable characters, such as the pirate-hating Queen Elizabeth, Charles Darwin and his pet chimp Mr. Bobo, Pirate Captain's crew-mates, and probably one of the most attractive Aardman characters to date, Cutlass Liz. Too bad she gets little screen time.

In conclusion, The Pirates! Band of Misfits may not be Aardman's best, but it might put a grin on you and your child's face.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5

2018 in Animated Features

Well, 2017 is finally over. It was a very rough year for animated movies, probably even tougher than 2013! Hopefully, 2018 will be better. However, there will be a drawback: DreamWorks will NOT have a new animated movie released this year. This will be the first time since 1999 that DreamWorks didn't release a new movie. You don't believe me? Well, here's a list of every animated DreamWorks movie to date (excluding Aardman features).

1. Antz (1998)
2. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
3. The Road to El Dorado (2000)
4. Shrek (2001)
5. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
6. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
7. Shrek 2 (2004)
8. Shark Tale (2004)
9. Madagascar (2005)
10. Over the Hedge (2006)
11. Shrek the Third (2007)
12. Bee Movie (2007)
13. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
14. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
15. Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)
16. How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
17. Shrek Forever After (2010)
18. Megamind (2010)
19. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
20. Puss in Boots (2011)
21. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
22. Rise of the Guardians (2012)
23. The Croods (2013)
24. Turbo (2013)
25. Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)
26. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
27. The Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
28. Home (2015)
29. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
30. Trolls (2016)
31. The Boss Baby (2017)
32. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

DreamWorks is taking a break this year because they're going through rough times: Co-founder Jeffery Katzenburg and co-president Mireille Soria (producer of Madagascar) retired from DreamWorks, leaving Bonnie Arnold (producer of Over the Hedge and How To Train Your Dragons 1 and 2) the sole president of DreamWorks. Also, following Universal's purchase of DreamWorks in April 2016, Chris Meledandri, founder of Illumination Entertainment, now oversees both DreamWorks and Illumination. I just hope that How To Train Your Dragon 3, which will premiere March 2019, won't be butchered into a comedy.

Blue Sky Studios won't release a new animated movie this year, either. However, they deserve a break, after releasing seven movies six years in a row. I just hope Fox (or Disney, since Disney now owns the rights to some of their properties) isn't forcing them to start production on ANOTHER Ice Age sequel. In case you don't know Blue Sky's library, here's a link to their website below.

http://blueskystudios.com/

Anyway, let's see what 2018 has to offer for animated movies!

In January in the UK, Aardman will release their seventh feature film, Early Man. It will be about a family of cavemen who are in danger of losing their home to gladiators. I'm actually excited for this film because I'm an Aardman fan, myself. Early Man will have a US release in February.

In March, from the creators of Gnomeo and Juliet comes Sherlock Gnomes. When Gnomeo and Juliet find that their friends are missing, they call Sherlock Gnomes to solve the case. Johnny Depp will voice the titular character. Instead of being distributed by Touchstone Pictures, a division of Disney, like the first film, Sherlock Gnomes will be distributed by Paramount.

Also in March, Wes Anderson will make his return to stop-motion animation with Isle of Dogs. However, unlike Fantastic Mr. Fox, his previous film, Isle of Dogs will be a bit more mature. It will be about a tribe of Japanese dogs in a Dystopian future who are forced to be put on an island of trash. A boy named Atari hijacks a plane to the Isle of Dogs to find his missing dog Spots.

In April, from Open Road Films, the studio behind The Nut Jobs 1 and 2, comes Duck Duck Goose. It will be about a grumpy old goose who must raise some mischievous ducklings as they journey north.

In June, the long-awaited sequel to the popular and successful Pixar film The Incredibles finally comes out of hiding with The Incredibles II. It will greatly expand on the world of the first Incredibles, and will focus on Helen Parr/Elastigirl this time. The family will also discover Jack-Jack's secret superpowers.

In July, Dracula, Mavis, Johnny, Denis, and the rest of the monster gang return in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. Makes you wonder how Gennedy Tartakovsky manages to complete the final season of Samurai Jack and a feature film at the same time. Too bad we won't be getting a CGI Popeye movie, which was also in Tartakovsky's mind.

In September, from Warner Animation Group, the people behind The LEGO Movies and Storks, comes Smallfoot. It will be about a Yeti who is convinced that humans exist. Much like Bigfoot himself, not much is known about Smallfoot yet, except for the cast. I just hope it doesn't focus more on comedy than story like how Storks did.

On November 9th, Illumination will release their next attempt at adapting a Dr. Seuss book into a feature film, simply called The Grinch. It will star Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character. I'm actually not that excited about this movie because I was disappointed in two of Illumination's recent films: Minions and Despicable Me 3. I also didn't like The Lorax because I feel it butchered the original story and turned it into a shallow WALL-E knockoff.

And finally, on November 21st, after six long years, Wreck-it Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz will return in an all-new movie called Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2. In the sequel to the 2012 Oscar® nominee for Best Animated Feature, Sugar Rush, Vanellope's game, is under threat, and she and Ralph have to journey into the Internet to find a code that will save Sugar Rush.

Some of you may already know this by this point, but in one particular sequence, Ralph and Vanellope visit the Disney-approved fansite OhMyDisney. Want to know what the best part is? Vanellope actually meets most of the Disney Princesses, and their original voice actresses will return!

From left to right: Paige O'Hara (Belle), Irene Bedard (Pocahontas), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel), Auli'i Cravalho (Moana), Sarah Silverman (Vanellope), Kristen Bell (Anna), Kelly Macdonald (Merida), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana) Linda Larkin (Jasmine), and Jodi Benson (Ariel).

Unfortunately, Mary Costa, the original voice of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, won't return, as she is now too old for voice acting. I also don't know if Elena of Avalor will appear in the movie.

Of all the new animated movies coming out this year, I'm most excited for Early Man, The Incredibles II, and Wreck-it Ralph 2.
Once again, there will be more animated films than the ones listed above that will premiere this year, but these were the ones I wanted to cover.