The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!

VERDICT:   4 out of 5 stars 

At the time of writing this, I’m on a transatlantic flight, quite literally top of the world (unless we pass Mount Everest so I can compare, which doesn’t look likely). The Atlantic Ocean stretches out endlessly in all directions below, and in the wake of having seen ‘The Pirates: In An Adventure With Scientists’ in the last couple of days, I can’t help wondering what this journey would be like a little closer to the water.

It’s quite something when the makers behind TV’s ‘Creature Comforts’ deliver a better and more entertaining feature film than three out of four Pirates of the Caribbean. Then again, this is Aardman Animation, the team also behind such classic triumphs as ‘Chicken Run’ and the infamous ‘Wallace & Gromit’ pieces.

Aptly-named ‘The Pirate Captain’ (voiced by Hugh Grant) and his motley crew enjoy a carefree seafaring life of pillaging and Ham Nights. The only problem is, they don’t quite make the piracy cut. Determined to correct this, the PC puts forward his candidacy for the Pirate of the Year Award, much to the amusement of his more reputable contemporaries, and sails off to loot more loot than has ever been looted. His quest takes a surprising turn however when an encounter with Charles Darwin (David Tennant) reveals his pet ‘parrot’ Polly is actually the last surviving dodo. With the promise of untold fortunes for this discovery, the pirate and the scientist join forces to present the bird to London, a feat made all the more difficult by the pirate-hating, merciless Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton).

Why can’t all animated films be like this? Well, at least all the ones that aren’t Pixar (DreamWorks I’m talking to you here). The Aardman crew are definitely masters of the multi-layered humour, providing colourful characters and stories for kids and showcasing limitless wit for the more mature audience member. Having said that, I saw the film with four others, three of whom couldn’t stop fawning over every single appearance made by Polly, so I’m not entirely sure which demographic they fall under. Ninety minutes of pure madness, absurdity and plain silliness, the family-friendly answer to Monty Python perhaps? The all-star cast also adds the fun, with greats the likes of Martin Freeman, Lenny Henry, Brian Blessed and Salma Hayek shining in roles that I can imagine being deliberately tailor-made for them.

However, the real question worth asking here is does it stack up against Aardman’s track record? We’ve had the mishaps of an inventor and his dog, we’ve had the chicken’s version of ‘The Great Escape’. How does a fully human cast of characters fare then? My answer: well enough. The film comes very close to the standard, maybe even close to raising it higher once more, but whether it’s because I’ve aged poorly or because I was still pondering over the day’s earlier showing of ‘The Hunger Games’, but I didn’t leave the cinema feeling blown away like I remember being with ‘Chicken Run’. Maybe you could say the plot is slightly disjointed and the pacing a tad uneven, but my criticisms go no further than that. This is just a fun film, good for any springtime cinema trip or a weekend outing with the parents.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a holiday to be getting on with. You should too. Get off the internet. Happy Easter everybody! 😀

Patrick Hetherington