The Pirates! A Band of Misfits Commentary

Anything made by the same people that do Wallace and Grommit is going to at least have a few laughs and most likely be good.  And when I saw the previews, I thought it looked like it would be really funny. And it is.  But it was a lot different than I thought it would be.  I was expecting a more multi-layered piece that had jokes obviously for the kids and jokes more for the adults.  That really didn't happen.  This one is squarely targeted at the kids.  But, because of the antics and that claymation style animation with the goofy faces, it is still enjoyable.  You just have to turn your brain off.

Another thing that I wasn't expecting was most of the story.  I was expecting more of a pirate adventure based movie (almost a spoof of Pirates of the Caribbean) and less of a "Romp Through Victorian England" story line.  I wouldn't say I'm disappointed but I was surprised.

There really isn't anything overly special about this movie.  It isn't like The Muppets where they took a family movie and went into the weird realm more than expected.  They really do keep Pirates down to earth and basic for the kids to just have some fun.  And from the reaction of the large number of kids in the theatre, they were successful at that.  As for me, I didn't find myself laughing really hard or for a long time at anything in particular (except maybe Ham Nite and the red dots).  But I did find myself smiling and laughing through most of the film.

It's definitely fun and worth a look.  See it but don't pay a whole lot for it.