BEFORE: Since that "Ice Age" film made such blatant references to pirates, I feel comfortable following up with this one. I think both films were released around the same time in 2012, and they came into my possession around the same time, seeing as I put them on the same DVD. Plus it's an easy link since Simon Pegg was in the 2 new "Star Trek" films with Anton Yelchin, who does a voice in tonight's film.
THE PLOT: Pirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.
AFTER: Well, it is awards season, with the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards and the Oscar nominations, why can't it also be time for Pirate of the Year? And this guy's only competition so far is a prehistoric ape, so maybe he's got a shot.
These things go in waves, and pirates were hot hot hot last year - if 2011 films were all about aliens, vampires, orphans and horses, then 2012 was all about pirates and spies. And Abe Lincoln. Then in 2013 it was back to superheroes and updated fairy tales. More on that last one later this week, but I digress. The animated films finally caught on to the trend started by "Pirates of the Caribbean" (and I'm so close to finishing the Lego version of THAT saga...) and now there's some pirate TV show coming on Starz that I won't have time for either.
But tonight's film was a fair amount of fun, with a large number of in-jokes. Between this and "Arthur Christmas", I've enjoyed watching Aardman Animation stretch themselves beyond "Wallace & Gromit" and "Creature Comforts", while still maintaining a high level of creativity. But from a story standpoint, I would have liked to see more action on the high seas, and less on the streets of London. Once the pirates hook up with Charles Darwin and try to win the science fair, it feels like they've almost forgotten who they are and what they're trying to accomplish.
Through the endangered dodo, the film almost makes a similar point to that of "The Lorax", but at least they did it in a fun, non-preachy way. There was a real society in the 1800's devoted to eating exotic animals, but Queen Victoria was not a member - oddly enough, Darwin was.
Also starring the voices of Hugh Grant (last seen in "Love Actually"), Martin Freeman (ditto), Imelda Staunton (last heard in "Arthur Christmas"), David Tennant (last seen in "Fright Night"), Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek (last seen in "Here Comes the Boom"), Brendan Gleeson (last seen in "Troy"), Brian Blessed, Russell Tovey, Ashley Jensen.
RATING: 5 out of 10 sea monsters
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