Overall Rating:
Grade: B-
Score: 7/10
Family-Friendliness Rating: Level 3 (Good)
Kids ages 7+
Plundering isn't easy, especially when you need to win "Pirate of the Year".
This clay-mation adventure stars Hugh Grant as the Pirate Captain, who keeps his crew in check. But his main focus is to beat Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) in the "Pirate of the Year" awards. When a young Charles Darwin finds out that the Captain's parrot Polly is actually a rare dodo bird, the Captain enters Polly in the Scientist of the Year contest in order to win the treasure that will get him to win the Pirate of the Year award. There's just one problem. London's Queen Victoria hates pirates, and she executes those that trespass. So the pirates disguise themselves and end up entering the contest, will it all go as planned?
Positive Notes
The film does carry positive messages on family and friendship. The Captain would do anything to keep his crew out of danger, and the crew would do anything to get their captain out of a situation (though he doesn't normally listen to them). They also treat Polly as a member of their "family", and it takes serious convincing to let her go to the scientist convention. We also hear a strong message on being yourself, through the quote, "Being a pirate isn't about the gold or the plundering, its' about being who you want to be".
The voice cast does a nice job, with Grant, Anton Yelchin, Imelda Staunton, Hayek, and Piven bringing nice comedic timing to their roles. Clay-animation has become almost obsolete, and it is nice to see nicely-crafted characters and backgrounds done frame-by-frame. There are some hilarious moments involving the pirates and their various diguises.
Negative Notes
The film does contain some suggestive innuendos. One of the ships the pirates crash onto features a ship full of naked people (its' a brief shot, but a couple of female pirates don't have their torsos completely covered). Men ogle at Cutlass Liz's form-fitting, midriff-baring outfit and a woman disguised as a pirate is noted as "surprisingly curvacious" and is also seen in the bathtub briefly (though we only see her back). Mermaids and hula dancers only have seashells to cover up what's needed to be covered up.
No explicit language, though we hear one variation each of the a-word and h-word. Cartoon symbols replace a profanity when a series of signs by a monkey say "are you out of your *%#&$@)^ mind?" and we also hear one "crap". To a lesser extent, the action is cartoonish and not too overwhelming, though the threat of pirates being executed may not be appreciated by the youngest of children. Alcohol is briefly on display in cartoonish form.
Conclusion
Aardman Studios has made fun animated films for the past decade. So what happens when you get pirates, you get lots of "piratey lingo".
Now for the most part, the film is boatloads of fun. There's a bunch of hilarious moments, nice comical timing, and quirky characters. But just because its' fun, doesn't mean it steers clear of rough waters.
For family audiences that come to expect the usual "fun" from Aardman, they also will find things they won't expect. And it comes in the form of adult humor and a few "implied" crudity issues. But in the end, teamwork and family are at the bow of this ship. And it is a lot less riske' and more kid-friendly than the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
So even though the movie itself is far from a disaster and the clay-animation style is now almost as rare as Polly the Dodo, the film still is notably saltier compared to recent animated films, especially when you consider that its' intended for children.
