Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

 Ahoy, mates!

Step aboard my ship as I write out this review! We will be waging war with the high seas, so hold on and enjoy!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012):

Also known as The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Based on: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! - by Gideon Defoe.
The Pirates are happy with their rooting and plundering, except they haven’t had any luck lately. No matter, as they have more important things to attend to, like the Pirate of the Year competition which they hope the Pirate Captain will win! Their chances are looking slim next to the others, so they decide to get more gold to show how impressive they are. After looting a ship that turns out to be only a science expedition they run into Charles Darwin who recognizes the Pirate’s “parrot” to be a dodo! He makes the case that Polly could gain him back some prestige in the Scientist of the Year awards. The Pirates agree to help him in order to get enough gold to win the Pirate of the Year competition. Everything seems to be going well, but is the tide about the turn?

Genres: Animated, Adventure, Claymation.
Length: approx. 88 minutes.
Script: 9, blast! I can’t remember if there were any bad words and swearing or not. I’m giving this a tentative score of 9 because of that.
Crew: Directed by: Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt. Written by: Gideon Defoe.
Starring the voices of:
Hugh Grant as The Pirate Captain.

Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, Anton Yelchin, Ashley Jensen, Al Roker, & Ben Whitehead as his crew.

David Tennant as Charles Darwin.
Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria.
Jeremy Piven as Black Bellamy.
Salma Hayek as Cutlass Liz.
Brian Blessed as The Pirate King.
Lenny Henry as Peg Leg Hastings.
Mike Cooper as Admiral Collingwood.
David Schneider as Scarlett Morgan.
Tom Doggart, Sophie Jerrold, Sophie Laughton, Peter Lord, Kayvan Novak, & David Schaal provide additional voices.
Costumes: 6, there is a time when someone is sitting in a bathtub but not wearing anything for a few minutes and though we don’t see anything, it’s still inappropriate and not particularly funny. There are low costumes, too.
Animation: 9, I’m partial to claymation so I like it a lot. I think it’s a unique and fun style! I like how all of the characters were made to look.

Animation by: Aardman Animations.
Music: 6, not “bad” but not memorable in any way. It does capture the “piraty feel” in places.
Music by: Theodore Shapiro.
Quotability: 7, nothing really comes to mind except this:

“It’s treacherous villainy! It’s villainous treachery!”

Content: 6, there is crude humor involving pirates, drinking, suggestive things, and killing. I thought it was a little vulgar in places, but from what I read of the book (2/3) it is tame. It’s mostly suitable for kids, who are the main audience.
Originality: 8, I wouldn’t go overboard and say I’ve never seen anything like it, but there are some fun elements.
Good For: anyone who likes claymation, families.
Age Range: I’d say the range for this movie is about from 8 up, but when you get to a certain age you might just be bored of it, which is understandable. It depends on the person.
Overall Score: 7.

Worth watching?: Yes, actually! You might’ve thought that this review was going downhill, but there was a kernel of gold hidden within. It had a really good message which I’ll talk about that more in a minute.
Will I watch again?: If I had nothing else to do, then maybe. Or if I was sick. Actually, this seems like it would be a very good movie to watch if you are ill because it will make you laugh and feel better!


For the blogathon:
This is my second entry in Hamlette’s We ❤ Pirates Week! You won’t want to miss plundering the list of participants HERE. 

I’d had notes on this movie for awhile so when Hamlette announced it I jumped aboard ship immediately!


I had originally planned to review the book, too, and compare the two, but 2/3 into the audiobook I gave up because I couldn’t stand it anymore. You see, it’s just that I highly dislike satire. I have a really hard time understanding it and that is not my kind of humor at all. My sister said, “I told you so.”

I had gone into the book expecting it to be a fun and cute romp with pirates like the movie but instead was given nothing but cruelty and parody and satire. Not my kind of thing at all. From what I read, the plots hardly matched up! Therefore I was surprised by this little introduction from the Pirate Captain:

“...You see, there’s a good chance that in your more enlightened times of hover boards and A-semetrical haircuts, a daring theatrical impresario will have decided to adapt my exciting adventure with scientists into some sort of morion picture to be exhibited at your local zoetrope club. Probably, you will notice how the motion picture contains a number of differences from the book you are now listening to. I would like to reassure you that this is not because of any sinister plot to rewrite history, it’s simply that certain things are better suited to the page than to the inside of a spinning metal drum. For example, it may be that the villain in said motion picture is Queen Victoria rather than the diabolical bishop of Oxford...

“...And perhaps the motion picture contains an entire plot to do with me owning a dodo, which is obviously a ridiculous and unlikely flight of fancy. Though I would very much like to own a dodo instead of our idiot parrot, Gary, who is frankly, a nuisance. But, rest assured, that in both zoetrope display and book, my beard is still luxuriant, Black Bellamy is still a fiend with eyes of the darkest pitch, and there’s still a good bit where a chimpanzee gets dressed up in a waistcoat, and most importantly, at no point does anybody mistakenly think it is somehow inherently funny to “talk like a pirate”....”

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! - by Gideon Defoe.

I couldn’t fathom how this little note could be so accurate to something that was so different. The answer: Gideon Defoe, the author of the book, also wrote the screenplay. I’m very pleased with all of the changes that he made, which is such a rare thing for me to say.

If you haven’t experienced either then you might wonder why I’m so surprised so I’ll explain. The book is supposed to be full of humor for the sake of humor. It showed pirates as resembling real pirates with killing and cruelty willy-nilly. That’s not what I want to talk about, as this is Hamlette’s We ❤ Pirates Week! We want to talk about why we like them!

So why do we like pirates, and does that change from the book to the movie for any reason?

Yes, it does change. In the book it’s all about what the next adventure is, whereas the message of this movie is family. None of the pirates are actually related, but they are a crew and work together through it all. I think that is one of the many charms fictional pirates bring us, a camaraderie to bring them through the hardest storms.

“What is the best part of being a pirate?” Well, that’s exactly what is answered in this movie. Maybe memories and companionship are the real gold.


Thanks to Hamlette for hosting! Make sure to check out the participants HERE.

Thanks for reading! Has anyone else seen this? What is your favorite claymation movie? Why do you think that we like pirates so much?

MovieCritic

Movie Review: Black Panther (2018)

Hello to all of you.

I was so sad to hear a month ago, on August 28th, that Chadwick Boseman had passed away from cancer. I had already been contemplating reviewing a movie with him in it several times this year with the goings on, but this helped me make up my mind.

I can't tell you how many times I've started this review. I write something, delete it. Try something new, and delete it again. It's weird to talk about a movie when the main actor isn't with us anymore. I know that I talk about old films all the time, and this isn't any different, yet it seems like it for some reason. I'll try to get one with it anyway.

The film is Black Panther (2018). I was originally going to review all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies in order that they were released, but this circumstance made me change my mind, so I could write this as a sort of tribute to him. If you want to watch this, and haven't yet, there are two ways to do it. This is one of those things were you do as I say, not as I do, because I've watched all of the MCU movies in random order (and I still haven't seen a few). 

You can watch them in the order in which they were made:

Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: Dark World (2014), Captain America: The Winter Solider (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014), Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Dr. Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), & Spider-man: Far From Home (2019).

Or chronological order:

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain Marvel (2019), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), The Incredible Hulk (2008), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: Dark World (2014), Captain America: The Winter Solider (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Spider-man: Homecoming (2017), Dr. Strange (2016), Thor: Ragnorok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), & Spider-man: Far From Home (2019).

I've been the worst example with the MCU, watching things in a helter-skelter way which has caused a lot of confusion. If you're not that interested in the MCU, but still want to see Black Panter (2018), you can do that, but his story begins in Captain America: Civil War (2016). And another semi-important character's story begins in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

I think I've covered all of the bases, so it's time to get started on the actual review!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Black Panther (2018):

Based on: the comic books by Stan Lee.
Long ago, five tribes came together where they found a meteorite containing the valuable metal vibranium. Since then they have created technological wonders, but have hidden from the world. T'Challa is preparing to take the throne in Wakanda. That comes with the duties of the Black Panther to protect his people. When he hears of someone dealing with and selling vibranium, he and a few others go to South Korea to track him down. That releases a series of events that reveals a past to T'Challa that he wasn't aware of, and he begins to wonder, how will this change things?

"You get to decide what kind of a king you're going to be."

Genres: Action, Superhero, Science Fiction.
Length: approx. 134 minutes.
Costumes: 9, they are so vibrant and vivid! I love the colors and design that went into all of them. They won an Oscar. There are only a few times when some guys aren't wearing shirts, but it's when they are in a planned fight and there is war paint, and it is fine.
Costumes by: Ruth Carter.
Script: 8, a couple of bad words. But, just two or three, I believe.

"Please don't make me listen to your music." (My sisters say this to me all the time.)

Crew: Directed by: Ryan Coogler. Written by: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole, Stan Lee, & Jack Kirby.
Starring:
Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa.

Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia.

Danai Gurira as Okoye.

Letitia Wright as Shuri.

Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger.

Martin Freeman as Everett Ross.

Angela Bassett as Ramonda.
Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue.

Daniel Kaluuya as W'Kabi.
Winston Duke as M'Baku.
Sterling K. Brown as N'Jobu.
Forest Whitaker as Zuri.
Florence Kasumba as Ayo.
John Kani as T'Chaka.
Connie Chiume, Isaach De Bankolé, Danny Sapani, Dorothy Steel as Tribe Elders.
Marija Abney, Janeshia Adams-Ginyard, Christine Hollingsworth, Maria Hippolyte, Marie Mouroum, Sydelle Noel, Jénel Stevens, Zola Williams, & Shaunette Renée Wilson as Dora Milaje.
Seth Carr as Young Killmonger.
Atandwa Kani as Young T'Chaka.
Ashton Tyler as Young T'Challa.
Denzel Whitaker as Young Zuri.
Cameos: Stan Lee, Sebastian Stan, & Trevor Noah.
Cinematography: 9, the costumes help add to this, but the cinematography is really good! The action scenes are never dull, the lighting in South Korea is so impressive, and there are a couple of scenes with a waterfall that just make you say,"Wow!" I took one little itty bitty point off for sometimes when the CGI felt too much like CGI, but other than that it was impressive.

Cinematography by: Rachel Morrison.
Music: 10, it has streaks of the MCU theme while taking on different levels of Africa instrumentals which are woven through out.
Music by: Ludwig Göransson.
Quotability: 8, "Wakanda forever!" is an endlessly quotable line. In addition to that there were a couple other good ones.

Oscars won: 3: Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design. It was nominated for Best Picture.
Content: 7, there is fighting, injuries, killing, and death. Maybe it was something about the CGI that didn't make it seem that gruesome, though? If that's case, then I might be fine with that. In addition to that there is a rude gesture, one character who purposely hurts himself, and one character has mechanical arms that are gross at times. I know that doesn't make sense, but my brain can't figure out another way to say it.
Originality: 7, the structure and storyline was...kind of predictable. But, the elements were very unique in their own right!

Good For: Superhero fans, everyone.
Age Range: PG-13 for the violence, and intense scenes and I'd agree with that. As I can't go without saying, it depends on the person though.
Overall Score: 8!
Worth watching?: Very much so! For the visuals alone I'm glad I watched, but I'm also glad I watched to learn about all of the awesome characters.
Will I watch again?: My older sister still hasn't seen this, so yes, I'll watch it with her sometime.

Bonus thoughts:
This. This film. This is an important movie. With everything going on this year, especially in the U. S., I keep thinking about it. This is the ONLY superhero movie to ever have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It was the second highest grossing film of 2018. It is currently the twelfth highest grossing movie of ALL TIME. I feel that this will become one of those movies that everyone sees sometime in their life, not necessarily because of the story (which is still good!), but because of the statistics and all the records that it broke.

Now, Chadwick Boseman was the perfect person for T'Challa. I loved this movie for his sake. For the journey that T'Challa goes through! Chadwick was so regal in his performance. He gave the character a grace and dignity. He made him someone who is always looking for a better world. The way he and Letitia Wright played the relationships between siblings was one of the best parts of this movie. He will be missed tremendously.

My thoughts are just kind of scattered lists right now, but I'm getting emotional so I should stop. Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think of this movie, or if you haven't seen it tell me your favorite superhero movie (you can tell me that even if you've seen it!)!

One last thing:

"Wakanda forever!"

MovieCritic